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T?f  /I//1  r/o/i//iz  Convention 

OF    THE 

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ASSUCrA'i'lON 

HELD    AT 

RICHMOND,   VA. 

I>(>crinhri'   Isf,    IS74. 

' 

F.  H.  PINNEY  St  CO., 

Sy  A  ni   Hudson  Street,  New   York. 

'875- 

PROOEEDI^SraS 


OF  THE 

IS^ATIOZstAL  OOTsTYERTIOE" 


OF  THE 


American  Cheap  Teansportation 


ASSOCIATION 

(Name    now  changed  to   "The    American    Board    op    Transportation 

AND   Commerce  , ' ' 


HELD  AT 


ASSOCIATION    HALL,    RICHMOND,    VA. 


Commencing  on  the  \st  Decembs'r,  1874 


F.   H.   PINNEY  &  CO. 

59  &  61  Hudson  Street,  New  York. 

1875. 


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NOTICE, 


The  undersigned  regrets  to  be  obliged  to  announce  that  an  acci- 
dent which  happened  to  the  original  shorthand  notes  of  the  pro- 
ceedings, has  made  it  impossible  for  him  to  reproduce  in  this  Teport 
many  interesting  portions,  of  the  debates  upon  various  questions 
brought  before  the  Convention.  The  incompleteness  of  this  report, 
in  the  absence  of  several  interesting  papers  presented,  is  also 
unavoidable  for  the  reason  stated. 

R.  H.  FERGUSON, 

/Secretary/. 


/ 


3848;i2 


SECOND  ANNUAL  CONVENTION 


J[mcri([an  i^)\m]^  |^i[ans^ot|tatwn  Mociatioir. 

HELD   AT 

ASSOCIATION  HALL,  Richmond,  Va., 


Commencing  TUESDAY,  Dec.  1, 1874. 


At  10  A.  M.  the  Convention  was  called  to  order  by  the  President  of  the 
Association,  Hon.  Josiah  QunsfCY,  of  Massachusetts,  who  said: 

Gentlemen  op  the  Convention: — At  the  threshold  of  our  proceedings, 
and  before  entering  upon  the  work  of  organization,  we  are  asked  to  listen  to 
words  of  welcome  and  congratulation  from  the  Honorable  Mayor  of  this 
city,  and  I  therefore  take  great  pleasure  in  introducing  the  Hon.  Mr.  Keiley, 
Mayor  of  Richmond.     [Great  applause.] 

MAYOK   KEILEY,    OF  KICHMOND. 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen: — It  falls  to  my  fortunate  lot  to  bid  you, 
on  behalf  of  the  municipal  authorities  of  Richmond,  a  most  cordial  welcome 
to  our  cit}'-,  and  to  express  on  their  behalf  and  that  of  our  people  at  large  a 
sincere  wish  that  the  great  purposes  you  have  in  view  may  receive  at  this  Con- 
vention an  impulse  and  impetus  commensurate  with  their  priceless  value. 

You  have  convened  from  many  quarters  of  our  common  country  for  tha 
purpose,  as  I  understand  it,  of  seeking  a  practical  solution  of  that  great  and 
most  important  pi'oblem  how  best  and  cheapest  to  bind  together,  by  great 
highways  of  traffic,  the  far-sundered  borders  of  our  imperial  domain,  that  the 
plow-share  may  touch  the  cleaving  keel,  and  the  fruitful  furrow  of  the  prairie 
farm  may  be  merged  in  the  closing  furrow  of  the  sea. 

Great  and  benificent  as  is  this  design,  important  in  the  last  degree  as  it 
undoubtedly  is  to  the  more  material  ends  you  have  in  view,  its  value  in  that 
marketable  sense  which  finds  its  measure  in  the  statistics  of  political  economy 
is  not  its  only,  perhaps  not  its  greatest,  worth.  For  every  whirling  train  and 
gliding  boat  that  bears  athwart  the  continent  its  burden  of  production  from 
factory  and  farm,  halted  at  no  territorial  boundary,  searched  by  no  customa 


6 

officer,  taxed  by  no  gatherer  of  imposts,  is  a  signal  monument  of  the  vahie  of 
that  peace,  and  concord,  and  unity  on  which  our  political  prosperity  reposes, 
and  a  mute  but  mighty  pleader  for  the  preservation  of  that  national  fraternity 
whose  rekindling  fires  now  light  the  horizon  on  every  hand — to  fade  and  pale, 
let  us  hope,  no  more  forever. 

To  select  any  special  topic  of  your  proposed  or  probable  discussions  as  a 
subject  of  remark  would  ill  befit  my  unacquaintance  with  your  detailed  plans, 
and  might  well  be  deemed  an  abuse  of  the  privileges  of  this  place.  But  you 
will  pardon  me  if  I  venture  in  one  sentence  to  point  out  the  great,  almost  the 
only,  danger  which,  in  my  opinion,  menaces  the  success  of  your  valuable 
undertaking.  If  you  fail,  gentlemen,  it  will  not  be  for  lack  of  merit  in  your 
scheme  or  of  intelligence  and  vigor  in  its  prosecution;  not  from  private  oppo- 
sition or  piiblic  neglect;  not  from  want  of  appreciation  or  sympathy;  your  one, 
only  danger  lies  within  your  own  ranks,  and,  in  great  deference  to  your  better 
judgments,  I  venture  to  indicate  it  in  the  expression  of  my  fear  that  you  may 
not  so  comprehend  the  vastness  of  the  work  before  you  as  to  see  that  it  is  in 
the  co-operation — the  simultaneous  working  of  mauj^  schemes,  not  the  selfish 
pursuit  of  one,  that  you  will  find  both  the  success  of  your  efforts  and  the  frui- 
tion of  that  succeeding.  There  is  ampj^  room  for  every  meritorious  move  in 
this  direction.  The  country  is  vast  enough,  its  population  numerous  enough, 
its  productions  valuable  enough,  and  the  world's  demand  for  them  great 
enough,  for  many  a  busy  channel  from  West  to  East.  Men  are  learning,  late 
indeed,  but  through  that  bitterness  which  makes  teaching  permanent,  that  the 
number  of  bushels  of  wheat  to  the  acre,  or  the  percentage  of  metal  to  the  ton 
of  ore,  or  the  yield  of  coal  to  the  land,  is  but  a  fallacious  test  of  the  value  of 
farm  or  mine.  A  thousand  mines  lie  fallow  to-day  on  American  hillsides,  and 
a  thousand  farms  will  make  their  winter  fires  out  of  golden  grain  this  year 
The  largest  factor  often  in  all  these  values  is  accessibility  to  market,  and  it  is 
therefore  in  the  multiplication  and  consequent  competition  of  lines — in  the 
generous  rivalry,  not  in  the  jealous  hostility  of  works  of  communication — that 
the  surest  pledge  of  the  accomplishment  of  your  wishes  and^the  brightest  prom- 
ise of  value  in  that  fulfilment  may  be  found. 

Let  it  be  seen  that  you  can  rise  to  the  level,  the  generous  level,  of  the 
national  need  for  your  labors,  and  your  battle  becomes  the  battle  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  is  already  won.  But  I  trespass,  Mr.  President,  on  time  too  valuable 
to  be  wasted  thus.  Let  me  say,  in  conclusion,  that  there  is  a  special  fitness, 
in  my  judgment,  in  your  assembling  here.  More  tban  a  hundred  years  ago, 
when  your  own  great  namesake,  Mr.  President — possibly  your  ancestor,  for  in 
your  State  as  in  mine,  sir,  there  is  a  wonderful  tenacity  of  families — when 
that  most  gifted  son  of  the  Bay  State's  colonial  history,  Josiah  Quincy  was 
completing  his  law  studies  at  Harvard,  a  Virginia  surveyor,  traversing  with 
compass  and  chain  the  upper  counties  of  this  colony,  conceived  the  first  plan 
of  a  grand  highway  from  the  East  to  the  "West.  Memorable  events  which 
wedded  his  name  to  immortality  postponed,  but  could  not  eradicate  from  his 
mind  the  great  design,  and  with  returning  peace  he  resumed,  with  his  wonted 
earnestness,  the  patriotic  purpose. 

I  can  invoke  on  your  deliberations  now  no  greater  blessing  than  that  they 
may  be  guided  by  the  profound  sagacity  and  inspired  by  the  generous  patriot- 
ism which  chatacterized  every  act  and  utterance  of  him  who  was  no  less  first  in 


peace  than  first  in  war — Virginia's  pioneer  in  the  great  work  of  linking  West 
with  East  by  cheap  transportation — George  Washington. 

Mr.  Keiley  was  frequently  interrupted^by  applause,  and  was  loudly 
applauded  when  he  took  his  seat. 

In  response  to  Mayor  Keiley's  address  of  welcome, 

The  President  said  :  We  have  met  here,  coming  from  almost  every  part 
of  the  nation,  to  this  the  capital  of  the  Old  Dominion,  and  stand  here  in  the 
presence  of  the  statues  and  memorials  of  the  great  men  of  Virginia — men  of 
the  past  who  looked  far  into  the  future,  and  laid  deep  the  foundation  for  the 
rising  structure  of  the  Commonwealth. 

It  is  a  great  gratification  that  we  meet  on  this  common  ground. 
That  we  have  "  come  on  to  Richmond"  [applause]  not  to  be  "  welcomed  to 
hospitable  graves,"  but  to  hospitable  homes  ;  and  if  no  other  object  is  accom- 
plished beyond  the  consummation  of  a  personal  and  fraternal  recognition  by 
men  representing  all  sections  of  the  country,  who  are  rich  in  heart  and  under 
standing,  we  shall  have  done  well.  A  nearer  friendship  and  higher  respect  will- 
spring  from  a  better  understanding  of  each  other  [Applause.]  What  we  are 
called  upon  to  do  is  to  perform  the  great  work  of  the  century — to  assist  the 
development  of  the  powers  of  nature,  and  the  distribution  of  its  products. 

As  in  the  human  frame,  it  is  not  only  the  food,  but  the  circulation  that 
produces  health,  so  in  the  body  politic  is  it  necessary  to  healthful  growth 
and  development  that  the  arteries  aud  veins  through  which  circulates  the  life 
blood  of  the  States,  their  natural  and-  artificial  highways,  should  ramify  every- 
where from  center  to  circumference,  to  tie  with  indissoluble  bonds  every  part 
through  which  shall  flow  the  quickening  forces  of  a  common  nature.  No  part 
is  independent ;  the  union  of  all  is  requisite. 

Let  us  hope  that  the  matters  to  be  here  presented,  and  the  remarks  made, 
will  all  promote  the  union  and  prosperity  of  our  favored  land.    [Applause.] 

On  motion  of  Mr.  J.  F.  Henry,  a  Committee  of  Five  on  Credentials  was 
appointed  by  the  Chair,  consisting  of  John  F.  Henry,  N.  Y.  ;  C.  S.  Carring- 
TON,  Va. ;  Jno.  Pearson,  111. ;  Wm.  Maxwell,  Tenn. ;  R.  M.  Littler,  Iowa ; 
E.  M.  RuqpER,  Ga. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Thtjrber,  the  Convention  adjourned  until  3  P.  M.,  to 
enable  the  Committee  on  Credentials  to  prepare  their  report. 


AFTERNOON  SESSION. 
Met,  pursuant  to  adjournment,  at  3  P.  M.  President  in  the  chair. 

THE  REPORT  OP  THE  COMMITTED  ON  CREDKNTLAL8 

was  called  for  by  the  Chair. 

Your  Committee  find  that  the  following  are  the  accredited  Delegates  to 
the  American  Cheap  Transportation  Association  entitled  to  sit  in  this  Con- 
vention. 

Hon.  JosiAH  QtriNCY,  President,  Boston,  Mass. 

John  F.  Henry,  George  Opdyke,  James  S.  T.  Stranahan,  E.  R.  Durke^ 
and  William  Duryea,  of  New  York  Chamber  of  Commerce. 


8 

B.  P.  Baker,  W.  S.  Fairfield,  J.  S.  Page,  T.  F.  Lees,  John  H.  Kemp,  Wm. 
Duryea,  Benjamin  Lichenstein,  W.  H.  Wiley,  F.  B.  Thurber,  S.  H.  Randall, 
James  S.  Barron,  George  Brown,  John  D.  Wing  and  E.  J.  Martin,  of  the 
New  York  Cheap  Transportation  Association. 

B.  P.  Baker,  W.  Woodward,  Jr.,  and  D.  H.  Baldwin,  of  the  New  York 
Cotton  Exchange. 

W.  Winsor,  S.  W.  Hoyt,  Charles  S.  Brown,  Austin  H.  Turner  and  W.  S. 
Fairfield,  of  the  New  York  Butter  and  Cheese  Exchange. 

R.  H.  Ferguson,  Troy,  N.  Y. 

Hon.  Hiram  Price,  Waldo  M.  Potter  and  Robert  M.  Littler,  of  Davenport 
Board  of  Trade,  Iowa. 

Richard  H.  Whiting  and  Charles  b.  Clark,  of  Peoria  Board  of  Trade, 
Peoria,  111. 

Col.  Joseph  Utley,  Dixon,  111.,  President  Board  of  Canal  Commissioners. 

Hon.  John  C.  Dore,  Hon.  Robert  Roe  and  Col.  Lyman  Bridges,  Chicago, 
111.,  Special  Commission  on  Water  Routes  for  Illinois. 

A.  W.  Thompson,  International  Steam  Ship  Company,  New  York. 

D.  M.  Turnure,  Chas.  E.  Hill,  Geo.  A.  Merwin,  Importers'  and  Grocers' 
Board  of  Trade, New  York. 

M.  S.  Belknap,  Board  of  Trade,  Louisville,  Ky.  ;  Gen.  James  Tilton, 
Delaware,  Md. 

Gen.  John  A.  Logan,  Wm.  L.  Holliday  of  Cairo;  John  M.  Pearson,  Rail- 
road Commission,  Godfrey,  Ills. 

J.  M.  Allen  of  Geneseo,  111. ;  J.  H.  Pickrell,  Hamston,  111. 

L  D.  Ingersoll,  Colorado. 

M.  B.  Lloyd,  Orion,  111.,  State  Fai-mers'  Association;  Alonzo  Golder,  Mas- 
ter State  Grange,  Gait,  111.,  B.  J.  Vancourt,  O'Fallon,  111. 

Dr.  Wm.  Mauvell,  Master  State  Grange.  Also  delegated  by  Governor  to 
represent  the  State,  Humboldt,  111. 

Gen.  Thos.  L.  Rosser,  State  of  Minnesota  at  large,  St.  Paul,  Minn.,R. 
Blakely,  D.  R.  Noyes,  E.  F.  Drake,  G.  I.  Parsons,  S.  Mayall,  St.  Paul  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce,  St.  Paul,  Minn. 

Capt.  Wm.  P.  Halliday,  Cairo,  Illinois — Cairo  Chamber  of  Commerce  ; 
George  Deering,  Board  of  Trade  of  Louisville,  Kentucky ;  Hon.  William 
Bross,  State  of  Illinois,  appointed  bj'  Governor;  Col.  William  Procter  Smith, 
Greenbrier,  West  Virginia,  appointed  by  the  County  Court  of  Greenbrier  Coun- 
ty; J.  R.  Pace,  C.  M  Flinn  and  Benj.  Greene,  appointed  by  the  Council  of 
town  of  Danville,  Danville,  Virginia;  Gen.  Chas.  W.  Field,  Atlanta,  Georgia, 
by  the  Governor  of  Georgia. 

Wm.  H.  Hopkins,  Jas.  M.  Kimball,  Geo.  W.  Adams,  Providence  Board  of 
Trade,  Providence,  R.  I. 

F.  B.  Davidson,  F.  G.  Conant,  Union  Merchants'  Exchange,  St  Louis,  Mo. 
Chas.  J.  Baker,  Baltimore,  Md. ;  A.  P.  Gorman,  W.  Keyser,  Odin  Bowie, 

Jacob  Tome.     All  delegated  by  the  Governor  of  Maryland. 
Gen.  A.  S.  Piatt,  Macacheek,  Ohio,  State  Grange. 
S.  H.  Ellis,  Master  State  Grange,  Springboro,  Ohio. 

Franklin  Stearns,  J.  D.  Imbodea,  Chas.  S.  Carrington,  R.  M.  T.  Hunter, 
B.  French,  W.  P.  Burwell.     All  of  Richmond,  Va. 

G.  W.  Grice,  Portsmouth,  Va. 


9 

G.  W.  Boiling,  Petersburg,  Va. ;  T.  S.  Flourney,  Danville,  Va.;  T.  S.  Bo- 
cock,  Lynchburg,  Va. ;  R.  T.  W.  Duke,  Charlottsville,  Va. ;  W.  B.  Baker, 
;  H.  A.  Edmondson  Salem,  Roanoke,  Va. ;  W.  Robertson,  Charlotts- 
ville, Va.;  J.  T.  Anderson,  Lexington,  Va.;  W.  H.  Terrill,  Bath  Court  House, 

Va. ;  Moses  Walton, ;  J.  L.  Marye,  Fredericksburg,  Va. ;  W.  Lamt, 

Jr.,  Marshall  Parks,  Col.  Walter  H.  Taylor,  Norfolk,  Va. ;  Alex.  J.  Marshall, 
Warrenton,  Va.     Delegates  appointed  by  the  State. 

L.  E.  Harne,  Tula,  Va.;  Jas.  C.  Southall,  Charlottsville,  Va.;  F.  G.  Ruf- 
fen,  Manchester,  Va.;  H.  E.  Pej^ton,  Water  ford,  Loudon  Co.,  Va. ;  John  D. 
Imboden,  Richmond,  Va.;  Wm.  P.  Burwell,  Richmond,  Va. ;  Joseph  R.  An- 
derson, Richmond,  Va.     State  Agricultural  Society. 

L.  E.  Harne,  E.  W.  Hubbard,  Buckingham  C.  H.,  Va. ;  Wm.  Mahone, 
Petersburg,  Va.;  R.  S.  Ragland,  Boston,  Halifax  Co.,  Va. ;  John  Dodson,  Din- 
widdle C.  H.,  Va. ;  J.  B.  Zollicoffer,  North  Carolina,  Wm.  P.  Burwell.  By  the 
Farmers'  Council  of  Virginia. 

By  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Richmond,  Va.  :  C.  S.  CaiTington,  James  A. 
Seddon,  H.  C.  Caball,  Isaac  Davenport,  J.  L.  Bacon,  R.  L.  Maury,  Robt.  Ould. 
Corn  Exchange,  Richmond :  Wm.  H.  Palmer,  Walter  K.  Martin,   P.  C. 
Warwick,  Philip  Haxall,  W.  C.  Seddon. 

Tobacco  Trade  Association :  E.  D.  Christian,  J.  T.  Hutchinson,  E.  O.  Nol- 
ting,  J.  H.  Martin,  Peyton  Wise. 

Chamber  of  Commerce,  Lynchburg,  Va. :  K.  Otey,  R.  H.  T.  Adams,  Jas. 
T.  Williams,  all  of  Lynchburg,  Va. 

By  The  State  Orange  of  Virginia :  Richmond — Robert  Leckey,  Garland 
Hanes,  Franklin  Stearns,  George  W.  Carter,  Oscar  G.  Cosby,  Dr.  J.  B.  Mc- 
Carthy. Petersburg — B.  J.  Rogers,  W.  B.  Westbrook,  R.  O'C.  Lynch.  Nor- 
folk— Wm.  Lamb,  John  T.  Griffin,  S.  B.  Carney.  Lynchburg — J.  C.  Feather- 
ston.  Alexandria — A.  J.  Wedderburn.  Fredericksburg — Robt.  A.  Gray. 
Staunton— W.  H.  H.  Lynn.  Danville— Ch.  J.  Kingsley.  Bristol— J.  B. 
Dunn.  Henrico — A.  G.  Hudgins.  Hanover — Wm.  Gaines.  Louisa — M.  M. 
Ambler.  Augusta — G.  W.  Koiner,  J.  M.  McCue.  Caroline — J.  F.  Pierson. 
Spotsylvania — B.  T.  Nelson.  King  George — Addison  Borst.  Westmoreland 
— F.  W.  Cox.  New  Kent— Gen.  W.  F.  I.  Lee.  Lancaster— John  C.  Ewell. 
Dinwiddle — William  F.  Thompson.  Nottoway— Colonel  W.  H.  Caruthers. 
Prince  Edward — T.  T.  Tredway.  Appomattox — General  W.  M.  Elliott. 
Campbell — Thomas  C.  Moorman.  Bedford — F.  H.  Harris.  Roanoke — S.  G. 
Farley.  Chesterfield— Alexander  Sims.  Charlotte — W.  R.  Gaines.  Halifax 
— R.  L.  Ragland.  Pittsylvania— W.  T.  Sutherlin.  Henry— Colonel  P. 
Hairston.  Franklin — W.  C.  Bennett.  Brunswick — Dr.  G.  M.  Raney.  Meck- 
lenberg — Colonel  E.  B.  Goode.  Greeflsville — B.  R.  AVilson.  Clarke — Mar- 
shall McCormack.  Frederick — A.  M.  Moore.  Page — E.  G.  Chapman. 
Rockingham — John  S.  Craun.  Loudon — E.  G.  Caufman.  Culpepper — Isaac 
Winston.  Rockbridge — J.  H.  Paxton.  Goochland — R.  S.  Allen.  Bucking- 
ham— L.  T.  Jones.  Fluvanna — G.W.  Pellett.  Albegiarle — Wm.  II.  Libscomb. 
Amherst — M.  H.  Garland.  Botetourt — Lewis  Leukenhaker.  Elizabeth  City 
— Richard  M.  Booker.  Nansemond — C.  H.  Riddick.  Cumberland — Randolph 
Harrison. 

M.  F.  Maury,  Charleston,  West  Va.,  Delegate  from  State  at  Large. 
Hon.  Wm.  P.  Price,  Dahlonega,  Ga, 


10 

E.  M.  Rucker,  Ruckersville,  Ga. 

Col.  B.  W.  Frobel,  Capt.  J.  M.  Elliott,  Hon.  Nelson  Tift,  Hon.  D.  M.  Dii 
Bose,  Gen.  Chas.  Field,  Col.  Robt.  Baugli,  all  of  Georgia. 

Hon.  John  Hancock,  W.  P.  McLean,  A.  H.  Willis,  R.  Q.  Mills,  W.  S. 
Henderson,  D.  C.  Giddings,  W.  L.  Moody,  John  T.  Flint,  Wm.  W.  Lang  and 
W.  J.  Hutchins,  all  appointed  by  the  Governor  of  Texas,  Austin,  Texas. 

■   Col.   Wm.  Johnson,  Charlotte,  N.  C,  State  Grange  of  North  Carolina  ; 
also,  Azariah  Graves,  same  place. 

D.  Wyatt,  Aiken,  S.  C. ;  Geo.  D.  Hinckley,  N.  Y.,  Master  State  Grange; 

C.  Mills,  Master  State  Grange,  North  Carolina;  W.  H.  Chambers,  Alabama 
State  Grange;  S.  H.  Ellis,  Master  Ohio  State  Grange,  Springboro,  O. :  all 
representing  the  National  Grange  Patrons  of  Husbandrj^ 

Cyrus  Clark,  W.  H.  Abell,  C.  G.  March,  J.  D.  Sawyer,  N.   C.   Simmons, 

D.  P.  Dobbins,  Buffalo  Board  of  Trade,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

The  Committee  on  Credentials,  finding  that  some  sections  are  fully 
represented  while  others  have  but  a  small  number  of  delegates,  would  there- 
fore recommend  that,  as  is  customary  under  such  circumstances,  on  all 
important  questions  votes  be  taken  Vy  States;  each  State  represented  to  have 
as  many  votes  as  she  has  Representatives  in  the  House  of  Representatives. 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted  by  your  Committee. 

John  F.  Henry,  N.  Y.  ,  Chairman.      Wm.  Maxwell,  Tenn. 
C.  S.  C.vRRiNGTON,  Va.  R.  M.  Littler,  Iowa. 

E.  M.  Rucker,  Ga.  J.  M.  Pearson,  111. 

Mr.  J.  F.  Henry — Mr.  President,  in  accordance  with  the  recommendation 
of  tlie  Committee  on  Credentials,  I  move  that,  when  called  for,  votes  taken 
in  this  Convention  shall  be  by  States. 

Adopted. 

The  President  said  that  for  the  first  business  after  the  report  of  the 
Committee  on  Credentials,  th&  Executive  Committee  had  recommended  the 
consideration  of  the  Report  of  the  Standing  Committee  on  Railroad  Trans- 
portation. 

Mr.  F.  B.  Thurber,  of  New  York,  then  read  the  Report,  stating  that  it 
was  the  result  of  examination  of  the  subject  since  January  last  by  members 
of  the  Committee. 

REPORT. 

To  Hon.  Josiah  Quincy,  President  of  the  American  Cheap  Transportation 
Association  : 

The  Committee  on  Railway  Transportation  beg  leave  to  submit  the  fol- 
lowing report  : 

We  would  begin  by  stating  that  we  do  not  expect,  in  the  limited  space  of 
a  report  like  this,  to  do  ijiore  than  touch  upon  the  salient  points  of  the  subject 
in  question  ;  for  in  this  age  of  steam  and  electricity  time  is  precious,  and, 
unless  documents  are  brief  and  arguments  clear,  they  are  seldom  appreciated 
or  understood. 

For  the  sake  of  convenience  we  have  divided  the  subject  into  sections,  as 
follows :  • 


11 

1st.  A  brief  history  of  our  railroad  system. 

2d.   Its  relations  to  the  public. 

3d.    Its  defects. 

4th.  Remedies. 

First  in  order,  therefore,  will  be 

A^KETCH   OP   THE   PROGKESS  OF   RAILROADS   TN    THE   UNITED   STATES. 

In  this  country,  as  in  England,  tramroads  preceded  the  railway.  The 
first  work  of  the  kind  constructed  in  the  United  States  was  that  from  the 
granite  quarries  in  Quincy,  Mass.,  to  the  Neponset  River,  opened  in  1826. 
The  second  was  the  Mauch  Chunk  Road  in  Pennsylvania,  constructed  in  1827, 
for  the  transportation  of  coal.  The  former  was  T^rked  by  horse-power  ;  the 
latter  was  what  is  termed  a  gravity  road,  the  trains  being  drawn  up  inclined 
planes  by  stationary  engines,  and  moving  down  inclines  bj^  their  own  weight. 
In  1827,  the  Carbondale  and  Honesdale,  extending  from  the  Delaware  and 
Hudson  Canal  to  the  coal  mines  of  that  company,  was  opened.  In  1828,  the 
first  important  line  undertaken  in  this  country,  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio,  was 
commenced,  and  fourteen  miles  of  it  were  opened  in  1830.  In  1831,  it  was 
extended  to  Frederick,  sixty-one  miles  ;  and  in  1832,  to  the  Point  of  Rocks, 
sixty-seven  miles.  Up  to  1831  the  road  was  operated  by  horse-power.  In  that 
year  a  locomotive  of  American  manufacture  was  placed*  upon  it.  The  work 
opened  next  in  order  of  time  was  the  Mohawk  and  Hudson,  in  the  State  of 
New  York,  which  was  commenced  in  August,  1880,  and  opened  in  September 
in  the  year  following.  The  first  locomotive  engine  used  upon  this  road  was  of 
English  manufacture,  and  weighed  six  tons.  It  was  found  to  be  too  heavy 
for  the  superstructure,  and  had  to  be  replaced  by  another  of  American  manu- 
facture weighing  three  tons.  The  Saratoga  Railroad  was  commenced  in  Sep- 
tember, 1831,  and  opened  in  July,  1832.  The  South  Carolina  Railroad  was 
commenced  in  1830,  and  sixty-two  miles  of  it  opened  in  1832.  In  1833  it  was 
completed  to  Hamburgh,  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  miles.  At  the  time  of 
its  completion  it  was  the  loilgest  railroad  in  the  world.  It  was  the  first  upon 
which  a  locomotive  engine  of  American  manufacture  was  used.  This  engine 
was  made  at  the  West  Point  Works,  in  the  State  of  New  York,  and  weighed 
four  and  a  half  tons.  It  was  placed  on  this  road  in  December,  1830.  The 
South  Carolina  was  the  first  railroad  upon  which  the  mails  were  transported. 
The  New  York  and  Harlem  Railroad  was  commenced  in  1831,  and  a  small 
portion  of  it  within  the  City  of  New  York  opened  that  year.  In  New  Jersey, 
the  Camden  and  Amboy  Railroad  was  commenced  in  1831,  and  fourteen  miles 
of  it,  extending  from  Bordentown  to  Hightstown,  completed  in  1832.  It  was 
completed  from  Camden  to  South  Amboy  in  1834.  The  New  Jersey  Railroad 
was  commenced  in  1832,  and  completed  to  New  Brunswick  in  1834.  The 
Philadelphia  and  Trenton  Raih-oad  was  completed  in  1833.  It  was  not,  how- 
ever, till  1839  that  the  construction  of  the  line  from  Trenton  to  New  Bruns- 
wick formed  a  continuous  line  of  railroad  from  the  Hudson,  opposite  New 
York  City,  to  Philadelphia. 

In  the  State  of  Massachusetts  three  lines  were  commenced  nearly  simul- 
taneously— the  Boston  and  Lowell,  the  Boston  and  Providence,  and  the  Boston 
and  Worcester.  The  construction  of  the  first  named  was  commenced  in  1831, 
and  finished  in  1885.     The  two  latter  wei-e  commenced  in  1832,  and  opened  in 


12 

1835.  The  Newcastle  and  Frenchtown,  connecting  the  Chesapeake  and 
Delaware  Bays,  was  commenced  in  1831,  and  completed  in  1833.  Such  is  a 
brief  sketch  of  the  earlier  attempts  at  railroad  construction  in  the  United 
States.  The  works  first  built  were  cheap  and  rude  structures,  adapted 
neither  to  high  speeds  nor  heavy  trains,  and  formed  a  most  striking  contrast 
to  the  perfect  works  of  the  present  day.  The  estimated  cost  of  many  of 
the  most  important  lines  in  the  country  did  not  equal  one-half  their  annual 
receipts  at  the  present  day.  That  of  the  Erie  Railroad  was  $6,000,000. 
A  revised  estimate  made  as  late  as  1841,  after  considerable  progress  had  been 
made  with  the  work,  put  the  cost  of  the  road  at  only  $9,000,000.  The  inade-. 
quate  estimates  made  in  almost  every  case  was  a  fruitful  source  of  future  em- 
barrassment, while  the  imperfect  structure  of  most  of  the  roads  not  only 
greatly  restricted  Iheir  traffic  but  involved  heavy  losses  from  the  reconstruc- 
tion which  was  in  almost  every  case  rendered  -necessary.  The  early  progress 
of  the  railroads  of  the  United  States  was  contemporaneous  with,  and  perhaps 
helped  to  give  an  impulse  to,  that  great  speculative  movement  w^ich  swept 
like  a  whirlwind  over  the  country,  and  culminated  in  the  financial  catastrophe 
of  1837.  The  earlier  roads,  instead  of  possessing,  as  they  now  do,  an  annual 
traffic  exceeding  in  value  many  fold  their  cost,  were  a  heavy  burden  upon  the 
capital  and  industry  of  the  country.  In  many  of  the  States,  particularly  in  the 
Western  and  South^n,  large  sums  were  expended  upon  lines  which  were 
wholly  abandoned.  Still  larger  sums  were  wasted  in  attempts  to  construct 
canals,  and  in  extensive  systems  of  banking-  .which  were  set  on  foot  in  nearly 
all  the  States.  The  railroads  constructed  were  mostly  short  passenger  lines, 
and  contributed  little  toward  the  development  of  the  material  interests  of  the 
country.  So  excessive  were  the  los.ses,  and  so  complete  had  been  the  disor- 
ganization of  the  industries  of  the  country  in  the  great  revulsion  that  followed, 
that  years  were  required  to  restore  the  Avaste  and_  exhaustion  that  had  been 
sufiered.  It  was  not  till  the  discovery  of  the  immense  deposits  of  gold  in  Cal- 
ifornia that  any  disposition  was  manifested  to  enter  again,  on  a  grand  scale, 
upon  the  construction  of  public  works.  In  fact,  the  development  of  the  ma- 
terial interests  of  the  country,  now  so  extensive  and  wonderful,  may  be  said 
to  date  from  that  great  event. 

From  the  opening  of  the  first  railroad  in  1830,  to  1848,  inclusive,  a  period 
of  19  years,  5,99G  miles  of  line  had  been  completed,  being  an  average  of  310 
miles  annually.  From  1848  to  the  breaking  out  of  the  great  civil  war,  a  period 
of  13  years,  34,637  miles  of  railroad  werp  opened,  being  at  the  rate  of  3,053 
miles  annually.  During  the  war  the  mileage  constructed  fell  off  largely.  No 
lines  of  any  importance  were  opened  in  the  South. 

Since  1867,  however,  the  activity  and  enterprise  so  strikingly  displayed 
from  1848  to  1860  has  again  taken  possession  of  our  people,  and  within  the 
last  six  years  over  30,000  miles  of  railway  have  been  constructed. 

The  following  will  show  the  number  of  miles  of  railroad  in  operation  in 
tlie  United  States  at  different  periods  since  1830.  In  1830,  33;  1831,  95;  1832, 
239;  1833,  380;  1834,  633;  1835,  1,098;  1836,  1,373;  1837,  1,497;  1838,  1,918; 
1839,3,303;  1840,3,818;  1850,  9,031;  1860,  30,635;  1870,  53,898;  1871,  60,677; 
1873,  67,104;  and  at  this  time  it  is  estimated  that  over  70,000  miles  of  road  are 
in  operation. 

This  brings' us  to  the  end  of  the  first  division  of  our  subject,  and  to  the 
beginning  of  the  next,  which  treats  of  our  railway  system  in  its 


13 

RELATIONS    TO    THE    PUBLIC. 

Railways  are  improved  highways — nothing  more,  nothing  less.  Instead 
of  the  old  town  and  county  roads,  owned  and  kept  in  order  by  the  public, 
steam  ha«  been  applied  to  the  purposes  of  transportation,  and  the  people  have 
delegated  their  powers  and  duties,  in  this  respect,  to  associations  of  individ- 
uals ;  but,  overjoyed  at  the  coming  of  the  great  benefactor,  they  neglected 
to  shut  the  door  against  attendant  evils ;  but  with  little  consideration, 
they  granted  concessions,  without  proper  restrictions  and  safeguards;  these 
concessions  which  were  really  exclusive  privileges  to  use  the  po,.cer  of 
steam  in  doing  the  people's  work,  soon  made  their  possessors  very  powerful,  and, 
by  combination  and  consolidation,  they  became,  in  many  cases,  monopolies, 
with  power  sufficient  to  prevent  or  crush  competition,  and  have  been  used  to 
unduly  tax  and  oppress  the  people  who  created  them.  Let  us  ^xamine  this 
power  !  The  latest  statistics  show  that  we  have,  in  the  United  States,  about 
seventy  thousand  miles  of  railway,  with  a  nominal  capital  of  about  three 
thousand  two  hundred  millions  of  dollars  ;  their  gross  receipts  aggregate 
nearly  five  hundred  millions,  sums  greatly  in  excess  of  the  Government  debt 
and  revenue  ;  all  this  sum  is  capable  of  being  controlled  and  diiected  by  a 
veiy  few  men  ;  on  all  questions  where  railroad  interests  conflict  with  the  in- 
terests of  the  public,  the  influence  of  this  wealth  is  a  unit  against  the  people. 
It  employs  great  armies  of  men  in  operating  the  various  lines  of  road  ;  it  is 
the  best  Customer  of  the  press  ;  it  controls  the  telegraph  lines,  has  the  readiest 
access  to  the  public  ear,  and  is  the  all-powerful  abettor  or  terrible  foe  to  polit- 
ical aspirations.  Many  of  our  laws  are  made  in  its  interest,  and  along  every 
line  of  railway  it  keeps  in  its  employ  the  best  legal  talent ;  these  men  become 
our  judges,  and,  having  been  edupated  to  view  laws  relating  to  railway  matters 
from  a  railway  standpoint,  naturally  interpret  difficult  points  in  its  favor. 
Members  of  the  legal  professian  are  often  in  the  lobby,  to  serve  this  interest, 
and  instances  are  not  wanting  where  representatives  of  the  people,  while 
holding  official  positions,  accept  retainers  to  advocate  claims  adverse  to  the 
interest  of  the  people.  A  railroad  corporation  is  soulless,  and  yet  im- 
mortal ;  wiser  than  philosophy,  it  has  found  in  a  perpetual  charter-  the 
elixir  of  life.  When  our  fathers  abolished  the  law  of  primogeniture,  they  sup- 
posed the  country  was  secured  against  the  evils  of  vast  individual  wealth  ac- 
cumulating from  generation  to  generation,  because  the  certainty  of  death  would 
bring  certainty  of  destruction ;  but  a  perpetual  charter,  granted  without  con- 
sideration, has  become  a  spindle  to  twist  the  gossamer  thread  across  the  chasm 
of  death.  All  this  vast  and  constantly  increasing  wealth  is  under  irresponsible 
control.  A  corporation  can  neither  be  hung  nor  sent  to  the  penitentiary;  that 
is  to  aay,  there  is  an  entire  absence  of  individual  responsibility.  Vigorous, 
alert,  all-powerful  and  perpetual,  it  only  needs  unscrupulous  managers  to  be- 
come a  worse  tyrant  than  Nero — a  more  dangerous  master  than  Robespierre. 
On  page  158  of  the  Report  of  the  U.  S.  Senate  Committee  on  Transportation 
Routes  we  find  the  following : 

"  In  the  matter  of  taxation,  there  are  to-day  fom*  men,  representing  the 
four  great  trunk  lines  between  Chicago  aud  New  York,  who  possess,  and  who 
not  unfrequently  exercise,  powers  which  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
would  not  venture  to  exert.  They  may  at  any  time,  and  for  any  reason  satis- 
factory to  themselves,  by  a  single  stroke  of  the  pen,  reduce  the  value  of  prop- 


14 

erty  in  this  country  by  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars.  An  additional  charge 
of  five  cents  per  bushel  on  the  transportation  of  cereals  would  have  been 
equivalent  to  a  tax  of  forty-five  millions  of  dollars  on  the  crop  of  1873.  No 
Congress  would  dare  to  exercise  so  vast  a  power,  except  upon  a  necessity  of  the 
most  imperative  nature;  and  yet  these  gentlemen  exercise  it  whenever  it  suits 
their  supreme  will  and  pleasure,  without  explanation  or  apology.  With  the 
rapid  and  inevitable  progress  of  combination  and  consolidation,  those  colossal 
organizations  are  daily  becoming  stronger  and  more  imperious.  The  day  is 
not  distant,  if  it  has  not  already  arrived,  when  it  will  be  the  duty  of  the  states- 
man to  inquire  whether  there  is  less  danger  in  leaving  the  property  and  indus- 
trial interests  of  the  people  thus  wholly  at  the  mercy  of  a  few  men,  who  rec- 
ognize no  responsibility  but  to  their  stockholders,  and  no  principle  of  action 
but  personal  and  corporate  aggrandizement,  thau  in  adding  somewhat  to  the 
power  and  patronage  of  a  government  directly  responsible  to  the  people,  and 
entirely  under  their  control. " 

The  preface  to  "  The  American  Railway  Manual  of  the  United  States," 
for  1873,  in  speaking  of  the  railway  interest,  somewhat  ominously  alludes  to 
it  as  "  what  is  destined  to  be  the  dominant  interest  of  the  United  States." 

Your  Committee  do  not  wish  to  convey  the  idea  that  the  managers  of 
railways  are  any  more  ambitious  or  unscrupulous,  any  worse  or  any  better 
than  the  rest  of  mankind,  but  we  wish  to  direct  attention  to  the  fact  that  these 
vast  aggregations  of  capital  illustrate  the  evils  which  our  fathers  aimed  to  avoid 
when,  as  before  stated,  they  abolished  the  law  of  primogeniture. 

The  discovery  and  application  of  steam  to  the  manifold  purpose*  of  civil- 
ized life  has  revolutionized  commerce  and  quadrupled  the  producing  capacity 
of  all  civilized  nations.  The  development  of  this  country  has  been  little  short 
of  marvelous,  and  but  few  persons  appreciate  how  all  the  circumstances  of 
our  life  have  changed.  An  illustration  of  this  progress  may  be  seen  in  the 
State  of  Minnesota,  which,  but  thirteen  years  ago,  imported  her  breadstufl's, 
while  to-day,  with  but  five  per  cent,  of  her  arable  land  under  cultivation,  she, 
with  the  single  exception  of  California,  exports  more  wheat  than  any  State  in 
the  Union.  In  the  opinion  of  your  Committee  this  tremendous  development 
has  made  a  readjustment  of  our  transportation  system,  in  its  relations  to  the 
public,  necessary  ;  and  the  time  has  now  arrived  when  our  entire  producing, 
commercial  and  real  estate  interests  should  cease  to  be  taxed  to  perpetuate  the 
defects  and  abuses  of  the  present  system.  In  following  out  the  plan  laid  down 
for  this  report,  and  to  properly  understand  the  subject,  it  now  becomes  neces- 
sary to  inqure  what  are 

THE  DEFECTS  OP  THE  PBESENT  BYSTEM. 

It  is  not  an  easy  task  to  give  a  comprehensive  answer  to  this  question,  for 
the  entire  system  is  honeycombed  with  abuses  from  beginning  to  end.  They 
are  present  from  the  very  inception  of  most  railroad  enterprises,  and  accom- 
pany them  through  every  stage  of  construction  and  operation.  The  abuses  in 
the  construction  of  railroads  have  been  forcibly  illustrated  by  a  recent  writer, 
who  says  : 

"  The  reckless  and  unprincipled  manner  in  which  some  railroads  are  built 
would  astonish  many  persons,  and  we  give  the  following  as  a  sample :  A  char- 
ter is  obtained  and  a  few  men  get  together  without  a  dollar  in  ready  money, 
form  a  company,  issue  construction  bonds  "  secured  by  mortgage  upon  the 
road,"  and  a  Committee  of  Directors  is  sent  to  New  York  to  "place"  the 
bonds.     The  Committee  enter  into  negotiations  with  some  prominent  banker 


16 

to  undertake  the  placing  of  the  bond,  she  to  get  what  he  can  for  them  and  allow 
the  road  say  70  cents  on  the  dollar,  the  road  to  pay  the  advertising  bills. 
If  the  Committee  are  honest  the  road  ultimately  gets  70  cents  less  the  adver- 
tising bills,  but  many  committees  are  not  honest,  and  as  soon  as  they  have 
found  a  banker  to  undertake  the  job  at  70  they  communicate  with  the  Board  of 
Directors  at  home,  stating  that  the  best  they  can  do  is  60,  and  ask  for  authority 
to  place  the  bonds  at  that  figure.  Having  their  confederates  at  home  in  this 
inside  ring,  the  authority  is  easily  obtained,  and  by  arrangement  with  the  banker 
he  settles  with  the  road  at  60,  and  pays  10  per  cent,  over  to  this  syndicate  for 
their  personal  use  and  benefit.  If  there  is  a  happy  combination  of  circum- 
stances, such  as  absence  of  financial  disturbances,  suspension  of  the  banker, 
etc.,  and  if  they  get  all  the  coiinties,  cities  and  towns  along  their  route  to  issue 
bonds  liberally,  the  roads  may  be  finally  built  and  furnished  with  rolling  stock; 
then  our  worthy  friends  of  the  board  of  management  divide  the  stock  between 
themselves  without  equivalent,  fix  the  rates  for  freight  and  passengers  high 
enough  to  pay  interest  on  the  face  value  of  the  bonds  and  par  value  of  the  stock, 
and  then,  after  voting  themselves  fat  salades,  proceed  to  foist  the  stock  off 
upon  an  unsuspecting  public.  As  soon  as  the  members  of  the  ring  manage  to 
sell  most  of  their  stock  they  go  to  work  and  organize  a  "Fast  Freight  Line," 
or  other  Credit  Mobilier  institution,  to  which  they  give  a  contract  which  soon 
impoverishes  the  road  and  enriches  them,  so  that  when  the  road  passes  into 
bankruptcy  they  are  enabled  to  buy  it  in,  issue  new  stock,  and  repeat  their 
little  financial  arrangement  over  again.  In  sketching  the  completion  of  this 
road,  we  forgot  to  say  that  there  was  a  "construction"  ring.  This  ring  had 
their  slice  from  every  contract  made,  and  not  a  mile  was  graded  or  tie  laid, 
not  a  rail  or  engine  or  car  purchased,  not  a  depot  erected  or  nail  driven,  but  a 
percentage  went  into  the  pocket  of  the  ring. 

"As  for  the  banker,  by  a  free  use  of  the  press  (who  lend  the  weight  of  edi- 
torial columns  to  the  project),  he  succeeds  in  "placing"  the  bonds  at  90  and  95 
among  the  widows,  orphans  and  other  unsophisticated  persons  of  small  means 
who  have  confidence  in  the  banker  and  editor  that  recommend  the  conversion 
of  Government  bonds  into  the  "  equally  reliable  and  better  paying  railroad 
securities."  Everything  goes  smoothly  until  some  morning  the  railroad  stops 
paying  interest  upon  its  bonds,  passes  into  bankruptcy,  sells  for  little  or  noth- 
ing, and  that  is  the  end  of  it  so  far  as  the  banker,  the  editor,  and  the  persons 
of  small  means  are  concerned.  In  the  meantime,  the  managers  of  the  road 
find  it  necessary  to  buy  the  usual  number  of  legislators,  aud  retain  all  the  best- 
legal  talent  along  the  line  of  the  road,  in  order  "to  protect  their  rights  from 
the  encroachments  of  the  people,"  who  have  languished  under  extortionate 
freight  charges,  and  who  have  been  groping  blindly  about  to  find  a  way  to 
remedy  the  evils  which,  notwithstanding  that  they  labor  early  and  late,  and 
raise  crops  which  are  the  admiration  of  the  world — are  making  them  poorer 
each  year.  Now,  while  we  are  far  from  desiring  an  indiscriminate  war  upon 
railways,  we  claim  that  public  opinion  must  be  awakened  to  these  abuses,  and 
that  they  must  be  eliminated  from  our  present  railway  system.  The  people 
of  this  country  are  beginning  to  find  that  tliese  defects  in  our  ti'ansportation 
system  are  the  "  Old  Man  of  the  Sea"  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  commerce  of 
the  country,  aud  when  they  realize  that  the  watered  stocks  and  other  swindles 
in  this  line  are  a  greater  burden  than  our  entire  national  debt,  we  may  be  sure 
that  they  will  work  out  a  remedy,  even  if  it  bankrupts  every  stockjobber  and 
railway  banker  in  Wall  street." 

The.foregoing  relates  principally  to  the  defects  in  the  manner  of  construc- 
tion, but  they  are  none  the  less  prominent  in  the  operation  and  management 
of  railways.  Probably  the  greatest  abuse  in  the  present  system  of  railway 
management  is  the  practice  commonly  known  as  "  stock  watering,"  or  the 
capitalization  of  surplus  earnings,  the  most  usual  form  of  which  is  accom- 
plished by  charging  high  rates  of  freight  and  accumulating  a  large  surplus 
fund,  putting  it  into  improvements,  and  then  issuing  stock  to  represent  the 
value  of  these  improvements,  or,  in  other  words,  exacting  money  from  the 


16 

public,  and  then  forever  making  the  public  pay  interest  on  the  money  so  ex- 
acted. It  is  argued  by  the  apologists  for  these  practices  that  it  is  current 
among  manufacturing  and  other  corporations,  but  they  ignore  these  essential 
points :  that  a  railroad  is  endowed  with  the  right  of  eminent  domain — the  right 
to  take  private  property  because  it  isforjiublic  me — and  railroads  therefore  owe 
some  duties  to  the  public  which  manufacturing  companies  do  not.  Again, 
manufacturing  corporations  are  not,  like  railroads,  natural  monopolies  by  the 
very  nature  of  their  construction,  and  no  one  is  obliged  to  patronize  them,  as 
is  the  case  with  the  railroads.  We  cannot  better  illustrate  the  practical  opera- 
tion of  this  abuse  than  by  comparing  the  management  of  the  "  Baltimore  and 
Ohio  "  and  the  "  New  York  Central  and  Hudson  River  "  railroads.  Both  of 
these  are  trunk  lines,  connecting  the  interior  with  the  seaboard,  and  operating 
nearly  the  same  extent  of'  road.  The  policy  of  the  former  company  has  been 
to  invest  its  surplus  earnings  in  the.  improvement  of  its  road  and  carrying  for- 
ward their  cost  upon  their  books  as  a  surplus,  while  that  of  the  latter  company 
has  been  to  make  the  same  investment  of  earnings,  but  to  issue  stock  repre- 
senting the  same. 

This  plan  appears  to  have  been  initiated  with  the  formation  of  the  New 
York  Central  Railroad,  in  1853,  by  the  consolidation  of  ihe  ten  separate  corpo- 
rations owning  the  route  between  the  Hudson  River  and  the  Lakes.  The  com- 
bined amount  of  share  capital  and  convertible  bonds  of  these  separate  organi- 
zations was  then  $23,235,000,  but  a  considerable  portion  of  the  share  capital 
had  not  been  paid  in.  The  equalizing  process  of  the  consolidation  was  that 
the  Schenectady  and  Troy  Company — that  being  the  least  productive  of  all — 
should  come  in  at  par,  while  the  holders  of  stock  or  convertible  bonds  of  the 
other  roads  received  a  premium  in  consolidated  six  per  cent,  debt  certificates 
ranging  from  17  to  55  per  cent.,  making  an  issue  of  these  certificates  amount- 
ing to  $8,894,500,  or  over  30  per  cent,  on  the  true  share  capital  of  the  Com- 
pany. From  this  time  down  to  1867,  there  had  been  no  material  change  in 
the  total  of  stock  and  debt  of  the  New  York  Central  Company  other  than  what 
could  be  nearly  accounted  for  by  actual  value  received,  and  its  capital  account 
was  then  represented  by  $28,537,000  of  stock  and  $12,069,820  of  bonds,  a  total 
(including  the  "water"  of  1853)  of  $40,606,820.  The  Hudsoni River  Railroad 
Company,  at  the  same  time,  had  a  share  capital  of  $7,000,000  and  a  bonded 
debt  of  $7,227,000;  total,  $14,227,000,  making  these  two  companies,  which,  in 
1860,  were  consolidated,  stand,  in  1867,  as  follows:  Stock,  $35,537,000,  and 
bonds,  $19,296,820,  or  a  total  capital  account  of  $54,833,820. 

During  1867,  the  Hudson  River  Company  presented  its  stockholders  with 
$3,500,000  stock,  or  a  dividend  of  50  per  cent. ;  and  again,  at  the  time  of  consoli- 
dation,[another  one  of  85  per  cent,  on  the  then  outstanding  stock  of  $16,000,000, 
making  an  issue  of  $13,625,000.  The  New  York  Central  Company  had,  in  1868, 
presented  its  stockholders  with  the  small  crumb  of  $23,036,000,  or  80  per  cent., 
followed  by  one  of  27  per  cent.  ,$  7,775,000,  at  the  time  of  consolidation.  Thus  in 
the  space  of  two  years  the  now  New  York  Central  and  Hudson  River  Railroad 
Company  added  to  its  capital  the  small  sum  of  $47,936,000,  created  out  of 
notliing  but  the  will  of  its  Directors  and  the. mixture  of  paper  and  printer's 
ink.  From  1870  to  1872  the  bonded  debt  was  increased  each  year  by  from 
one  to  two  millions  of  dollars,  since  which  it  has  been  increased  some 
$20,000,000  for  purposes  of  construction.    Who  shall  say  if  any  or  how  much  of 


17 

this  has  been  additional  "  water  "  to  make  up  the  necessary  amount  of  $7,200,- 
000  for  annual  dividends  ?  It  will  be  seen  by  the  foregoing  that  the  known 
fictitious  capital  of  this  company,  including  the  issue  of  1853,  is  some 
$10,000,000  greater-tlian  the  real  capital  which  had  been  invested  down  to  1869. 

In  the  one  case  the  liabilities  represent  about  $40,000  per  mile  of  road, 
and  in  the  other  about  $130,000.  Both  pay  about  the  same  dividends,  and  it 
certainly  requires  no  mathematical  ability  to  comprehend  the  fact  that,  in  or- 
der to  do  this,  the  latter  road  must  charge  the  public  a  much  higher  rate  for 
transportation.  The  roads  mentioned  have  been  selected  only  because  they  are 
conspicuous  examples,  and,  to  our  shame  be  it  said,  that  aside  from  the  Balti- 
more and  Ohio  there  is  not  another  trunk  line  of  railroad  in  the  United  States 
to  hold  up  as  an  example  of  honest  railroad  management.  The  entire  railroad 
system  of  the  United  States  is  tainted  with  the  same  practice,  and  it  is  esti- 
mated that  about  one-third  of  the  stock  of  the  entire  body  of  railroads  in  this 
country  has  been  thus  manufactured.  There  are  other  abuses  connected  with 
the  management  of  railroads,  such  as  fast  freight  lines  run  by  outside  com- 
panies, the  stock  of  which  pays  from  25  to  50  per  cent,  per  annum,  and  is 
owned  by  their  directors,  superintendents,  and  other  employees.  These  fast 
freight  lines  now  do  much  of  the  business  of  the  country,  and  although 
within  the  past  few  years  many  of  them  have,  in  deference  to  public  opinion, 
been  changed  from  the  non-co-operative  to  the  co-operative  system,  yet  those 
of  the  old  style  which  remain  are  gradually  sapping  tlie  life  of  many  railroads. 
They  should  be  driven  out  in  every  case,  and  their  business  should  be  done 
exclusively  by  the  railroads  themselves.  The  palace  and  sleeping-car  and  ex- 
press companies  are  another  excrescence  upon  the  railroad  system  of  the 
country  ;  and,  from  the  fact  that  they  now  own  fi'om  ten  to  twenty  million 
dollars'  worth  of  cars,  bought  mostly  from  profits,  they  should  be  bought  out 
by  the  railroad  companies,  so  that  the  profits  would  go  to  swell  their  revenues. 
Many  railroad  managers,  superintendents,  and  other  officers,  are  interested  in 
coal  mines,  saw  mills,  farms,  and  manufacturing  "establishments,  and  five 
themselves  lower  rates  when  other  people  are  paying  higher  rates  for  the  same 
accommodation.  These  gentlemen  and  the  master  mechanics  are  frequently 
interested  in  patent  boxes,  patent  lubricators,  patent  ventilators,  patent  brakes 
and  patent  fastenings,  and  are  thereby  induced  to  use  their  own  when  they 
could  get  cheaper  and  better  ones  with  advantage  to  the  roads  and  their  stock- 
holders. Their  road  masters  are  interested  in  patent  frogs  and  crossings, 
patent  joints,  and  patent  track  tools.  General  freight  agents  are  interested  in 
equipment  companies  and  fast  freight  lines,  and  make  monej^  by  giving  re- 
bates, dniwbacks,  and  special  rates,  or  by  furnishing  cars  to  shippers  who  will 
pay  a  bonus  and  denying  them  to  such  who  will  not,  or  do  not,  know  the 
ropes.  Passenger  agents  share  the  spoils  of  the  "  scalpers."  Purchasing 
agents  exact  and  pocket  commissions  ranging  fnmi  5  to  50  per  cent,  on  all  the 
supplies  and  materials  purchased  and  used  in  the  various  departments.  Pay- 
masters have  been  known  to  levy  a  tax  upon  all  orders  accepted  and  paid  by 
them. 

And,  in  addition  to  all  this,  lavish  and  extravagant  expenditure  by  the 
managers  has  been  the  rule  rather  than  the  exception.  The  mouc}"  paid  by 
the  public  for  transportation,  instead  of  being  carefully  husbanded  and  ap- 
plied to  the  payment  of  the  proper  dividends  to  stockholders,  has  been  used 


18 

to  influence  legislation,  and  much  of  the  corruption  among  men  in  public  life 
may  be  traced  directly  to  this  source.  The  history  of  the  Credit  Mobilier  is 
yet  fresh  in  our  minds,  and  in  the  report  of  a  committee  appointed  by  the 
Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York,  in  1872,  to  investigate  the  affairs  of  the 
Erie  Railroad,  we  find  the  following  : 

"  It  is  further  in  evidence  that  it  has  been  the  custom  of  the  managers  of 
the  Erie  Railway,  from  year  to  year  in  the  past,  to  spend  large  sums  to  control 
elections  and  to  influence  legislation.  In  the  year  1868  more,  thaa  $1,000,000 
was  disbursed  from  the  treasury  for  'extra  and  legal  services.'  For  interest- 
ing items  see  Mr.  Watson's  testimony,  pages  336  and  337. 

"  Mr.  Gould,  when  last  on  the  stand  and  examined  in  relation  to  various 
vouchers  shown  him,  admitted  the  payment,  durjng  the  three  years  prior  to 
1872,  of  large  sums  to  Barber,  Tweed  and  others,  and  to  influence  legislation 
or  elections  ;  these  amounts  were  charged  in  the  '  india-rubber  account.'  The 
memory  of  this  witness'  was  very  defective  as  to  details,  and  he  could  only 
remember  large  transactions  ;  but  could  distinctly  recall  that  he  had  been  in 
the  habit  of  sending  money  into  the  numerous  districts  all  over  the  State, 
either  to  control  nominations  or  elections  for  Senators  and  members  of  As- 
sembly. Considered  that,  as  a  rule,  such  investments  paid  better  than  to  wait 
till  the  men  got  to  Albany,  and  added  the  significant  remark  when  asked  a 
question,  that  it  would  be  as  impossible  to  specify  the  numerous  instances,  as 
it  would  to  recall  to  mind  the  numerous  freight  cars  sent  over  the  Erie  Road 
from  day  to  day."    (See  testimony,  p.  556.) 

"It  is  not  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  Erie  Railway  has  been  alone  in 
the  corrupt  use  of  money  for  the  purposes  named  ;  but  the  sudden  revolution 
in  the  direction  of  this  company  has  laid  bare  a  chapter  in  the  secret  history 
of  railroad  management  such  as  has  not  been  permitted  before.  It  exposes 
the  reckless  and  prodigal  use  of  money,  wrung  from  the  people  to  purchase 
the  election  of  the  people's  representatives,  and  to  bribe  them  when  in  oflice. 
According  to  Mr.  Gould,  his  operations  extended  into  four  different  States. 
It  was  his  custom  to  contribute  monej'^  to  influence  both  nominations  and 
elections. " 

The  foregoing  will  sei-ve  to  indicate  the  defects  and  abuses  of  our  present 
system  of  railway  management,  although  those  we  have  enumerated  are  by  na 
means  all  of  them.     We  may  now,  however,  properly  proceed  to  consider 

THE  REMEDIES. 

This  opens  up  a  wide  range  of  discussion,  but  we  propose  to  confine  our- 
selves to  those  remedies  which  experience  has  demonstrated  to  be  practicable. 
State  regulation  of  railways  by  making  laws  in  detail,  stating  what  they  shall 
and  what  they  shall  not  do,  is,  as  a  whole,  impracticable  ;  the  moment  you 
attempt  to  regulate  the  details  of  railway  management  by  specific  enactments, 
that  moment  you  fill  the  statute  books  with  a  mass  of  laws  which  benefit  only 
the  members  of  the  legal  profession,  and  you  largely  increase  the  amount  of 
oflBlcial  corruption  ;  for  it  depends  upon  the  idea  that  one  man  is  to  supervise 
and  regulate  another,  and  it  is  not  consistent  with  common  sense  to  suppose 
that  the  man  who  owns  will  not  do  his  best  to  control  the  man  who  regulates. 

There  are,  however,  certain  general  laws  which  work  well  in  practice,  and 
which  every  State  should  enact  for  the  regulation  of  railroads  which  are  exclu- 
sively within  its  borders. 

Under  this  head  we  may  enumerate  the  following  : 

1.  A  law  providing  a  Board  of  Railway  Commissioners,  with  powers 
similar  to  those  possessed  by  the  Railway  Commissioners  of  Massachusetts. 


19 

2.  A  law  to  prevent  stock  inflations  similar  to  the  one  now  in  operation  in 
Massachusetts. 

3.  A  law  providing  for  the  publication  at  every  point  of  shipment  of  rates 
and  fares,  embracing  all  particulars  regarding  distance,  classifications,  rates, 
special  tarifl's,  drawbacks,  etc.,  and  prohibiting  the  increase  of  such  rates 
above  the  limit  named  in  the  publication  without  giving  the  public  at  least 
thirty  days'  notice. 

4.  A  law  prohibiting  officers  or  directors  of  railways  from  either  directly 
or  indirectly  owning  or  becoming  interested  in  any  non-co-operative  fast 
freight  line  or  car  company,  or  from  being  interested  in  any  manner  in  the 
furnishing  of  supplies  to  any  company  with  which  they  may  have  official 
connection. 

5.  A  law  prohibiting  railway  companies  from  acquiring  or  holding  more 
real  estate  than  is  necessary  for  the  operation  of  their  roads,  and  prohibiting 
railway  pompauies,  or  officers  of  companies,  from  engaging  in  mining  or  any 
business  other  than  that  of  transportation. 

6.  A  law  making  it  a  penal  offense  for  any  public  official  to  accept  or  use 
the  free  pass  of  any  railway  company,  and  prohibiting  railwaj"^  companies  from 
granting  such  passes  to  any  but  regular  employes  of  such  railways. 

7.  A  law  providing  that  all  common  carriers  shall  receipt  for  quantity, 
whether  it  be  of  grain  or  other  commodities,  and  to  deliver  the  same  at  its 
destination. 

8.  A  law  prohibiting  the  representatives  of  the  people  who  belong  to  the 
legal  profession  from  being  retained  on  either  side  in  cases  where  the  public 
interest  is  involved. 

Of  these  all  but  the  first  should  also  be  national  laws,  and  m  addition 
Congress  should  also  provide  a  Bepartnient  or  Bureau  of  Commerce,  for  the 
purpose  of  obtaining  and  preserving  statistics  relating  to  our  internal  com- 
merce, to  the  end  that  intelligent  conclusions  may  be  arrived  at  in  matters  per- 
taining to  this  great  interest.  There  is  no  one  thing  strikes  the  student  of  the 
transportation  problem  so  forcibly  as  the  amazing  carelessness  and  neglect  that 
has  left  a  commerce  so  great  without  the  ordinary  facilities  for  obtaining  even 
a  correct  idea  of  its  extent.  The  total  of  the  exports  aud  imports  constituting 
the  foreign  commerce  of  the  United  States  for  the  year  1873  were  under  five 
hundred  millions  of  dollars,  while  it  is  estimated  that  the  value  of  products 
transported  on  all  the  railways  of  the  United  States  for  the  same  period  was 
upward  of  ten  thousand  millions.  The  commerce  of  the  Ohio  River  was  esti- 
mated at  sixteen  hundred  millions  ten  years  ago,  and  at  this  rate  the  entire 
domestic  commerce  of  the  country  would  at  this  time  be  probably  not  less  than 
fifteen  thousand  millions  of  dollars. 

The  above-named  laws,  in  the  opinion  of  your  Committee,  are  the  most 
practical  of  all  those  which  now  cumber  the  statute  books  of  the  various 
States,  or  which  have  been  proposed  to  remedy  the  evils  urider  which  we  are 
now  suffering  ;  but  the  only  really  effective  and  permanent  relief  which  can  be 
obtained  must  come  from 

COMPETITION. 

It  is  universally  admitted  that  this  is  the  only  efficient,  reliable  aud 
permanent   remedy  ;    but  upon   the  point   of  how   competition    may    best 


20 

be  obtiined  opinions  differ,  many  persons  believing  that  it  can  be 
obtaioed  only  through  the  agency  of  water  lines, ,  while  others  claim 
that  the  water  lines  have  had  their  day  and  must  soon  become  obsolete.    In 

*  the  opinion  of  yur  committee,  neither  of  these  views  is  wholly  correct,  and 
that  a  paper  system  must  include  botJb  methods.  It  is  evident  that  canals  can- 
not be  built  through  every  part  of  the  country  that  requires  improved  facilities 
for  transportation,  and  that  vast  sections  cannot  be  reached  by  this  mode  of 
intercommunication,  and  further  that  natural  water-courses  pursue  a  general 
course,  running  from  north  to  south,  and  that  the  commerce  of  the  country, 
in  obedience  to  the  laws  of  its  creation  and  existence,  insists  on  flowing  in  an 
easterly  and  westerly  direction.  The  water-courses,  in  obedience  to  another  law, 
will  persist  in  freezing  at  certain  times  and  places,  while  commerce  insists  upon 
moving  all  the  time  with  but  slight  regard  to  the  changes  of  temperature. 
One  ounce  of  pure  fact  concerning  the  laws  of  trade  and  commerce  is  worth 
an  unlimited  amount  of  theory  as  where  trade  and  commerce  should  flow  ; 
one  party  will  put  his  linger  down  on  the  palm  of  his  hand  and  demonstrate, 
to  his  own  satisfaction,  that  the  surplus  breadstuffs  of  the  West  can  be  carried 
cheaper  through  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries,  by  New  Orleans,  and  to 
New  York  and  Liverpool,  than  by  any  other  route  or  means;  but  the  ounce 
of  fact  is  that  the  commerce  of  the  American  Continent  runs  across  these  na- 
tional highways,  and  seeks  natural  or  artiticial  ones  running  from  the  east  to 
the  west. 

Most  of  the  advocates  of  cheaptransportation  have  examined  the  subject 
merely  with  a  view  to  the  transportation  of  cereal  products ;  they  have  evi- 
dently not  taken  into  consideration  the  live  stock  of  all  kinds,  the  beef  and  tal- 
low, the  pork  and  bacon,  and  lard,  and  butter,  and  cheese,  and  iron,  beside  the 
vast  multitude  of  other  articles  that  enter  into  the  consumption  of  a  civilized 
nation,  and  which,  from  their  nature,  must  be  carried  by  rail. 

In  the  State  of  New  York  the  question  of  water  versus  railway  transpor- 
tation has  been  fairly  tried.  It  may  not  be  generally  known  that  the  State  of  New 
York  possesses  ten  canals  of  an  aggregate  length  greater  than  that  of  the  Erie 
Canal.  These  are  known  as  the  lateral  canals,  and  were  built  to  develop  the 
various  parts  of  the  State  before  railways  came  generally  into  use  ;  but  with 
the  improvements  in  the  construction  and  operation  of  railroads  the  canals 
have  become  useless,  and  having  cost  over  fifty  millions  of  dollars  more  than 
the  revenue  derived  from  them,  the  Constitulion  of  that  State  has  just  been 
amended  in  order  to  rid  the  public  of  the  burden  of  maintaining  them. 

In  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts  the  Farmington  and  Hampshire  and 
Hampden  Canals,  extending  from  New  Haven  to  Farmington,  a  distance  of 
about  ninety  miles,  were  commenced  in  1832  and  finally  completed  in  1838, 
but  they  did  not  pay,  and  were  finally  sold.     They  w^ere  purchased  by  a  new 

^  company  and  operated  for  about  ten  years  at  heavy  loss,  when  they  obtained 
a  charter  for  a  railway  and  actually  built  a  railroad  for  a  great  part  of  the 
way  in  the  former  bed  of  the  canal,  and  the  railroad  has  been  a  paying  in- 
vestment. The  canals  of  Pennsylvania,  between  Philadelphia  and  Pittsburg, 
were  once  the  principal  method  of  communication  between  those  cities;  but 

now  they  are  but  little  used  except  for  coal,  and  more  of  that  staple  is  now 

transported  by  rail  than  by  water. 

With  the  great  Erie  Canal— an  artificial  water-way  which  has  the  great  ad- 


21 

vantage  of  connecting  large  bodies  of  water  possessing  an  enonnous  conoinerce — 
the  railroads  have  maintained,  a  competition  which  has  absorbed  all  but  the 
heaviest  and  bulkiest  classes  of  freight,  and  in  1873  the  railroads  carried  of 
these  41.8  per  cent.  Taking  the  entire  amount  of  grain  shipped  east  in  1872, 
including  the  amount  distributed  at  points  short  of  the  seaboard,  and  we  find 
the  railroads  carried  109,000,000  of  bushels  against  53,000,000  carried  by  canal. 
These  figures  are  taken  from  the  report  of  the  United  States  Senate  Commit- 
tee on  Transportation  Routes  (page  32),  and  there  we  also  find  the  remark  that 
'■  It  is  evident  therefore  that  railroads  do  a  very  large  business  in  the  way  of 
internal  distribution  which  cannot  be  done  by  canals,  and  in  which  the  com- 
petition of  canal  transport  is  not  much  felt.  In  this  interior  distribution  the 
railroads  possess  decided  advantages  over  the  water  line,  both  in  regard  to 
distance  and  in  the  saving  of  expenses  incident  to  trans-shipment. 

In  stating  this  we  do  not  wish  to  disparage  or  under-rate  the  inestimable 
benefits  conferred  upon  the  whole  country  by  the  Erie  Canal,  but  it  must  be 
remembered  that  they  are  largely  negative*  advantages — advantages  of  devel- 
opment, competition,  etc.,  which  would  have  accrued  to  any  improved  mode 
of  communication  owned  by  the  people  (an  ownership  which  is  a  necessity  if 
we  want  a  true  competition).  Who  shall  say  that  the  benefits  would  have  been 
less  if  a  railroad  had  been  constructed  instead  of  a  canal  ? 

It  must  also  be  remembered  that  the  Erie  Canal  had  the  advantage  of  pri- 
ority in  date,  and  that  the  current  of  commerce  was  already  flowing  in  that 
channel  when  railways  were  invented. 

In  regard  to  transportation  on  rivers,  we  believe  that,  with  plenty  of  water, 
steamboats  can  carry  the  coarser  articles  of  commerce  cheaper  than  railroads; 
but,  taking  Western  steamboat  commerce  as  a  whole,  it  has 'declined  greatly, 
not  more  than  half  the  tonnage  now  being  employed  that  there  was  twenty  years 
ago,  while  during  that  period  over  fifty  thousand  miles  of  railway  have  been 
constructed,  in  many  cases  directly  parallel  and  competing  with  natural  water- 
courses. George  H.  Morgan,  Esq.,  Secretary  of  the  St.  Louis  Merchants'  Ex- 
change, in  a  letter  bearing  date  October  27,  1874,  saj'S: 

"  It  is  true  that  the  Missouri  River  trade  has  dwindled  down  to  insignificant 
proportions.  The  reason  of  the  decline  in  this  trade  maybe  briefly  stated  as  fol 
lows;  In  1859  and  for  some  years  after  there  were  no  railroads  running  through 
North  and  Southwest  Missouri,  and  all  the  freight  that  came  out  of  the  Mis- 
souri River  Valley  was,  of  course,  transported  by  steamboats.  Now  we  have 
the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad  on  the  south  side,  and  the  North  Missouri,  or,  as 
it  is  now  called,  the  St.  Louis,  Kansas  City  and  Northern  Railroad,  on  the 
north  side,  running  to  Kansas  City,  and  touching  all  the  principal  points  on 
the  river;  while  we  of  St.  Louis  hold  that  water  transportation  is  the  cheapest 
mode  of  moving  freight,  it  is  a  fact  beyond  controversy  that,  wherever  a  rail- 
road competes  with  a  steamboat,  the  railroad  will  monopolize  the  freight,  for 
the  reason  that  the  railroad  will  take  the  freight  at  an  actual  loss  from  certain 
stations,  expecting  to  make  up  the  deficiency  from  other  points,  while  the 
steamboat  cannot  carry  the  freight  at  a  loss  without  carrying  the  owner  into 
bankruptcy.  So  the  railroad  takes  the  freight,  and  the  steamboat  is  driven  out 
of  the  trade.  Another  reason  for  the  decline  in  this  trade  is  the  wretched 
condition  of  the  Missouri  River;  taking  the  two  causes  mentioned  together,  the 
river  trade  of  this  great , tributary  (over  three  thousand  miles  in  length)  is 
effectually  ' played  out. '" 


'^22 

The*lements  of  speed  and  certainty  enter  so  largely  into  the  calculations  of 
modern  commerce  that  the  ounce  of  fact  is -that  railroads  have  become  the 
favorite  means  of  transport,  and  that,  as  in  the  case  of  the  p«)st-office  and  the 
telegraph,  the  public  will  often  pay  a  higher  price  for  the  quicker  transit.  This 
element  of  time  has  a  greater  bearing  upon  tlie  subject  of  transportation  than 
is  generally  understood;  it  is  not  alone  the  interest  on  capital  saved  trade,  com- 
binations are  made,  and  plans  are  consummated  which  would  not  otherwise 
be  practicable.  Capital  can  sometimes  be  turned  often  at  close  margins  with 
greater  profit  to  the  owner  than  on  a  less  number  of  transactions  with  larger 
margins,  yet  we  find  men — earnest,  able,  enlightened  men — totallj^  ignoring  the 
logic  of  accomplished  facts,  and  still  clinging  to  theories  which  are  ten  years 
behind  the  age.  To  some  ten  years  may  seem  an  insignificant  time,  but  ten 
years  ago  California  scarcely  produced  enough  wheat  for  home  consumption, 
and  now  she  produces  more  wheat  for  export  than  any  other  State.  As  stated 
elsewhere,  thirteen  years  since  Minnesota  imported  her  breadstuffs,  while  today 
she  stands  next  to  California  in  the  quantity  of  wheat  raised  for  export.  Ten 
years  ago  the  railway  mileage  of  this  country  was  33,000  miles,  to-day  it  is  over 
70,000,  and  within  ten  years,  notwithstanding  the  ravages  of  a  civil  war,  we 
have  added  more  than  seven  millions  of  souls  to  our  population  and  have  be- 
come a  great  manufacturing  nation.  The  statesman  of  to-day  must  be  no 
laggard  if  he  keeps  step  to  the  music  of  the  times. 

In  enumerating  the  defects  of  the  present  system,  your  Committee  omitted 
to  mention  what  is  probably  one  of  the  greatest  defects  on  our  trunk  lines  of 
railroad,  viz. :  the  operation  of  freight  and  passenger  traffic  over  the  same  line 
of  road  in  which  passenger  traffic  necessarily  has  the  right  of  way,  and  freight 
trains  have  to  lay  up  much  of  the  time  when  they  should  be  rolling  on  to  their 
destination.  To  briefly  illustrate  this,  we  may  mention  that  the  average  time 
of  freight  trains  between  the  Mississippi  River  and  New  York  is  from  eight  to 
ten  days,  or  at  the  rate  of  about  one  hundred  miles  in  twenty-four  hours, 
while  on  a  road  devoted  exclusively  to  freight,  and  operated  at  the  rate  of  ten 
miles  per  hour,  this  time  coukf  be  shortened  one-half,  and  the  capacity  of  the 
road  so  largely  increased  that  the  cost  could  be  reduced  at  least  fifty  per  cent.  In 
this  connection  your  Committee  desire  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  all  the 
statistics  of  rail  transportation  show  that,  as  the  business  increases,  the  pro- 
portionate cost  of  transport  is  very  largely  reduced,  and  also  that  a  reduction 
in  the  rates  charged  always  produces  a  large  increase  of  business.  This  is 
strikingly  illustrated  in  the  experience  of  the  Belgian  railways,  an  account  of 
which  may  be  found  on  page  152  of  Senate  Committee's  Report. 

THE   COST   OP  RAIL   TRANSPORTATION. 

Yolu-  Committee  have  not  entered  into  a  discussion  of  the  cost  of  rail 
transportation,  preferring  to  call  attention  to  accomplished  facts  rather  than 
to  go  into  details^of  figures  which  are  based  upon  our  corrupt  system  of  rail- 
road management;  but  we  will  here  state  that  great  progress  has  been  made  in 
the  transportation  of  freight  by  rail  during  the  past  few  years,  and  eminent 
engineers  now  estimate  that  exclusive  freight  railways  can  under  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances carry  freight  at  five  to  six  mills  per  ton  per  mile,  and  make  a 
fair  profit  on  capital  actually  invested.     Col.  Albert  Fink,  Vice-President  of 


23 

the  Louisville,  Nashville  and  Great  Southern  Railroad,  and  one  of  the  most 
eminent  engineers  in  this  country,  under  date  of  Nov.  11,  1874,  thus  places 
himself  on  record:  "I  estimate  that  the  cost  of  transporting  one  ton  per  mile 
on  a  double  track  freight  railway  could  be  reduced  to  -,^%  cents,  and 
i'^,^-  cents  additional  for  interest  on  the  investment,  or  ,^o  cents  .total  cost. 
This,  I  think,  is  the.  minimum  cost  to  which  railway  transportation  could 
possibly  be  reduced,  but  in  order  to  obtain  this  result  there  must  be  a  constant 
flow  of  business  over  a  road  amounting  to  at  least  eighteen  millions  of  tons  in 
one  direction,  and  one-fourth  of  that  amount  in  the  other."  The  average  rate 
paid  by  the  public  to  the  trunk  lines  for  long  hauls  during  the  year  1873  was 
\^^i  cents  per  ton  per  mile,  or  more  than  four  times  the  above  estimate,  and  if 
the  facts  we  have  given  teach  anything  they  teach  that  exclusive  freight  rail- 
roads, built  for  cash  and  free  from  the  principal  abuses  we  have  enumerated, 
can  carry  freight  at  half  the  cost  and  dmible  the  speed  of  the  presient  trunk  lines. 

Mr.  McHenry,  who  is  one  of  the  most  experienced  railway  men  living, 
has  recently  advocated  the  reduction  of  rates  on  the  Erie  Railroad  and  its  con- 
nections, for  both  passenger  and  freights,  between  New  York  and  Chicago,  to 
one-half  existing  rates,  stating  it  to  be  his  belief  that,  even  with  all  the  defects 
and  drawbacks  with  which  that  road  is  now  burdened,  it  would  pay  td  inaugu- 
rate such  a  policy.  .  ' 

To  sum  up  the  question  as  to  the  relative  merit  of  water  or  rail  lines  as  a 
medium  to  furnish  an  effective  competition,  your  Committee  desire  to  state 
that,  while  they  entertain  great  respect  for  the  opinions  of  the  many  able  advo- 
cates of  water  lines,  they  are  constrained  to  think  that,  while  large  bodies  of 
water  like  our  inland  lakes  and  the  more  navigable  of  our  rivers  will  always 
continue  to  be  important  portions  of  our  transportation  system,  yet  for  the 
reasons  heretofore  stated,  the  day  of  the  supremacy  of  through  lines  of  canal 
has  passed;  short  lines,  as  connecting  links  between  great  water-courses  or 
large  bodies  of  water,  are  alwaj^s  desirable,  but  long  stretches  of  canal  are 
likely  to  prove  costly  investments,  and  are  not  among  the  necessities  of  the  times. 
In  the  opinion  of  your  Committee  many  persons  are  led  to  favor  canals, 
because  they  fear  that  there  is  no  other  way  to  obtain  effective  competition 
with  our  existing  system  of  railways;  and  it  is  true  that,  so  far  as  our  experi- 
ence has  gone,  in  building  additional  lines  of  railway  to  secure  competition  it 
has  been  a  failure ;  as  fast  as  they  were  built  they  combined  or  were  bought  up 
by  existing  monopolies,  and  that  ended  the  competition.  But  let  us  see  if  this 
very  result  was  not  because  in  one  case  the  people  owned  the  water  highways, 
while  in  the  other  they  were  owned  by  individuals  and  subject  to  the  aphorism 
ol  shrewd  George  Stephenson:  "  Where  combination  is  possible  competition  is 
impossible. "  Let  us  examine  the  systems  pursued  by  other  countries  and  protit 
by  their  experience. 

In  France  there  is  no  competition,  the  entire  railway  system  being  on  a 
partnei'ship  basis  between  the  Government  and  the  Companies — the  Govern- 
ment guaranteeing  4i^ifo  per  cent,  dividends,  and  fourth-class  rates  average  1.74 
per  ton  per  mile. 

In  Prussia  the  Government  formerly  discouraged  competition,  but  finally 
was  compelled  to  change  its  policy,  and  now  owns  and  operates  about  half  the 
entire  mileage  of  the  Empire.  Rates  are  not  materially  different  from  those 
current  in  France. 


24 

In  England  it  has  been  left  entirely  to  private  enterprise,  and  it  has  been  a 
constant  struggle  between  Parliament  and  the  railroads  for  forty  years;  the  one 
endeavoring  to  frame  laws  which  would  protect  the  interest  of  the  people  and 
the  others  attempting  to  do  as  they  pleased;  and  at  last,  in  despair  at  ever  being 
able  to  accomplish  anything,  the  question  is  being  seriously  agitated  for  the 
Government  to  take  the  entire  system  of  railways  at  an  appraised  valuation, 
and  operate  them  in  the  interest  of  the  j)eople.  Here  rates  vary  from  1.98  to 
4.05  per  ton  per  mile. 

The  railway  policy  of  Belgium  differs  in  several  important  particulars  from 
that  of  an_7  other  country,  and,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  its  results  in  affording 
cheap  transportation  are  exceptionally  satisfactory.  Railway  development 
began  in  1833,  shortly  after  the  Belgian  revolution,  when,  on  account  of  the 
general  financial  prostration,  private  enterprise  was  unable  to  undertake  railway 
construction,  and  hence  tliu  Government  assumed  the  task.  Having  occupied 
the  most  important  and  remunerative  lines  through  the  central  portions  of  the 
country,  the  State  suspended  for  a  time  the  active  work  of  construction,  and 
permitted  private  companies  to  continue  it  by  building  branch  lines  and  exten- 
sions. The  success  of  railway  enterprises  in  England  and  elsewhere  stimulated 
the  independent  companies,  and  in  1850  about  three  hundred  and  forty  milc^ 
were  owned  and  operated  by  the  State,  and  one  huTulred  and  ninety  miles 
by  the  comjianies.  During  the  .succeeding  ten  years  the  mileage  owned  by  pri- 
vate corporations  gained  rapidly  on  the  State  lines,  so  that  in  1860  there  were 
of  the  former  seven  hundred  and  twenty-six  miles,  and  of  the  latter  tiiree  hun- 
dred and  forty-five  miles.  In  granting  these  concessions  the  State  pursued  the 
opposite  policy  from  that  which  always  prevailed  in  Franc%  and  which 
obtained  at  the  commencement  of  the  system  in  Prussia.  "  Railways  seem  to 
have  been  regarded  from  the  first  as  the  servants  of  the  public,  and  the  princi- 
ple of  competition  was  expressly  recognized  and  rigidly  enforced  through  the 
practical  working  of  the  State  lines  by  the  Government. 

"  The  plan  of  districting  was  never  adopted  The  right  of  the  Government 
to  construct  branch  lines  connecting  with  those  of  the  companies,  and  to 
authorize  the  construction  of  competing  lines,  was  expressly  reserved  in  the 
concessions.  This  reserved  right  was  freely  exercised  by  the  Government,  and 
competing  lines  were  liberally  granted.  VVith  one  exception  the  concessions 
were  for  siiort  and  separate  roads.  In  1860  the  average  length  of  lines,  worked 
by  twenty-one  companies,  was  only  about  forty-three  miles  each.  About  that 
time  the  results  of  these  numerous  concessions  became  apparent.  The  small 
and  detached  companies  consolidated  their  strength,  formed  through  trunk  lines, 
and  having  thus  formed  powerful  associations,  lioldly  challenged  competition 
with  the  Government  itself^  For  a  time  the  State,  backed  by  the  public  treas- 
ury, worked  its  roads  at  a  heavy  loss.  The  money  with  which  the  State  roads 
were  built  was  borrowed,  under  an  arrangement  for  its  gra<  ual  redemption  by 
periodical  payments  from  their  net  revenue,  and  until  they  became  profitable 
the  funds  necessary  for  the  redemption  of  the  debt^were  advanced  by  the 
treasury.  And  for  ihe  years  in  which  the  expenditures  exceeded  the  receipts, 
the  amount  was  added  to  the  losses,  and  carried  forward  as  a  charge  against 
the  railways. 

"It  will  be  seen  that  in  Belgium,  as  elsewhere,  the  increase  of  private  lines, 
which  for  the  time  stimulated  competition,  in  the  end  led  to  combination  among 
themselves  for  self-protection.  The  subsequent  history  of  railways  in  that 
country  furnishes  a  most  remarkable  illustration  of  the  fact  that  competition 
between  railways  ends  in  combination.  After  the  consolidation  of  the  small 
companies,  competition  between  themselves  and  the  Government  became  very 
sharp.  The  state  acted  as  the  richest  and  most  powerful  company  against  pri- 
vate companies  who  were  not  much  its  inferiors  in  power,  and  who  were  deal- 
ing on  equal  terms  with  it ;"  and  here  rates  on  fourth- class  freighths  per  ton 
per  mile,  including  terminal  charges,  average  on  much  shorter  distances  but 
.74  cents.     (See  Senate  Committee  Report,  p.  111.) 

To  still  further  emphasize  what  we  believe  to  be  the  correct  principle  for 


25 

the  regulation  of  our  transportation  system,  we  quote  from  aspeech  of  Charles 
Francis  Adams,  Jr.,  made  before  the  Joint  Railway  Committees  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Legislature  : 

"But  if  the  regulation  of  railways,  which  all  agree  to  be  necessary,  cannot 
be  accomplished  by  legislation,  how  can  it  be  accomplished?  How  has  it  been 
accomplished  elsewhere  ?  It  has  been  accomplished  by  what  is  known  as  the 
State  ownership  of  railways.  But  what  is  this  State  ownership  of  railways  ? 
The  general  idea,  and  I  think  it  is  the  idea  which  pervades  the  minds  of  gen- 
tlemen who  come  up  here  day  after  da}-,  is  that  the  Government  is  to  own  rail- 
roads, and  to  run  them  as  it  does  the  postal  system  ;  that  it  is  to  assume  every 
railroad  in  the  country,  large  or  small  ;  that,  in  a  word,  it  is  to  go  into  the  rail- 
road business  full  tilt.  In  other  words,  the  subject  of  State  ownership  of  rail- 
roiids  is  not  at  all  understood.  People  talk  very  learnedly  about  it,  without 
any  knowledge  of  it. 

"  So  far  as  I  know,  no  government  ever  has,  and  I  venture  the  opinion  that 
no  government  ever  will,  own  all  the  railroads  subject  to  its  jurisdiction.  In 
the  first  place  it  is  impracticable  ;  in  the  second  place  it  is  both  unnecessary 
and  inadvisable.  Let  me  I'cfer  to  the  Belgian  system,  which  is  the  one  most 
commonly  discussed.  The  essence  of  the  Belgian  system  is  found,  not  in  an 
exclusive  State  ownership,  but  in  competition  arising  from  a  mixed  ownership, 
part  public  aud  part  private.  The  Belgian  system,  therefore,  goes  back  to  first 
principles ;  competition  plays  a  far  more  important  part  in  that  system  than  in 
our  own.  The  State  railroads  and  the  private  railroads  work  incessantly  side 
oy  side.*  The  result  is,  that  the  one  keeps  the  other  pure,  and  up  or  down  to 
the  mark,just  as  you  choose  to  put  it.  They  are  now  discussing  in  Belgium 
the  expediency  of  the  State  assuming  all  tlie  railroads.  I  ventin-e  the  opinion 
that  if  this  is  done,  they  will  find  that  they  have  destroyed  that  to  which  hith- 
erto they  have  owed  their  success.  They  will  have  eliminated  that  element  of 
competition  which  it  should  be  their  great  aim  jealously  to  preserve.  B^or  the 
very  essence  of  the  sf/s'tem  of  State  tnanagement  lies  not  in  the  oionership  of  all  the 
railroads,  bg  the  Government,  but  in  the  control  and  kegulation  ok  the 

WHOLE,  THROUGH  THE  OWNERSHIP  .VNl)  MANAGEMENT  OF  A  PART.       UpOU  this 

fundamental  principle  I  feel  that  I  cannot  place  too  strong  an  emphasis.  In 
these  few  words  are  included  the  whole  theory  of  State  ownership,  wliich  I  am 
insti'ucted  to  urge  upon  you.  And  with  (his  statement  I  come  back  to  my 
original  proposition,  and  we  can  now  formidate  a  rule.  The  admitted  general 
principle  is,  that  the  Government  should  have  no  connection  with  industrial 
undertakings.  If  I  have  established  an  exception  to  that  rule,  as  regards  some 
degree  of  supervision  and  regulation  to  be  exercised  in  the  case  of  railroads, 
then,  the  exception  being  conceded,  we  mu.st  also  add  that  in  this  case  the  least 
degree  of  interference  shall  be  exercised  which  shall  be  sufiieient  to  secure  the 
desired  result.     To  this  part  of  the  discussion  I  shall  hereafter  recur. 


*"  The  experience  obtained  in  Belgium  of  the  working  by  tlie  State  of  at  least  a  portion  of 
the  railways  existing  in  that  country  is  entirely  in  favor  of  that  system.  The  lines  worked  by  . 
the  State  have  been  the  most  successful  financially,  and  are  also  those  kept  in  the  be? t  order 
and  the  working  of  which  gives  the  greatest  satisfaction  to  the  commercial  world  and  the  public 
in  general,  as  regards  regularity  of  conveyance,  cheapness  of  transit,  and  the  comfort  of  travelers. 

"  The  State  not  being  solely  guided  by  the  prospect  of  financial  gain,  but  have  constantly  in 
view  the  interest  of  the  public  which  it  represents,  is  in  a  better  position  than  private  companies 
to  introduce  all  desirable  improvements,  not  only  as  regards  the  efficient  performance  of  the 
service,  but  also  as  respects  the  cost  of  conveyance,  without,  however,  altogether  disregarding 
the  increase  of  revenue  which  its  operations  may  bring  into  the  public  treasury. 

"  The  State  railways  thus  find  themselves  placed  in  constant  comparison  with  the  railways 
worked  by  private  companies,  on  the  one  hand  stimulating  them  to  general  improvements,  and 
on  the  other  acting  as  a  sort  of  check  against  any  attempt  to  realize  extravagant  profits  at  the 
cost  of  the  public."— iirewiora/Mia  of  C.  A.  Fassaiux,  Director  Cfeneralof  Belgian  Posts,  Railways 
and  Telegraphs.  Royal  Commission  on  Railways  (1S66),  Appendix  M.  See  also  Evidence,  Ques- 
tions 3088-3181. 


26 

"  But  the  moment  it  is  proposed  that  the  Government  shall  own  and  ope- 
rate, through  its  trustees,  any  part  of  the  railroad  system,  we  are  met  at  the 
thereshokl  with  the  cry  of  corruption.  Our  opponents  say.  "See  what  our 
government  bureaus  are!  You  will  introduce  into  our  politics  a  larger  element 
of  spoils  than  we  even  now  have.  The  State  Government,  instead  of  owning 
the  railroad,  will  be  but  the  stepping-stone  to  the  possession  of  the  road."  I 
do  not  wish  to  depreciate  this  danger.  The  "spoils"  §ystem,  as  it  now  exists 
in  our  politics,  is  degrading  and  pernicious  enough,  and  I  should  be  loth  to  do 
anything  calculated  to  increase  it.  But  would  this  measure  increase  it?  Let 
us  see. 

"  I  do  not  hesitate  to  maintain,  that,  of  all  the  devices  for  introducing 
corruption  into  politics  and  the  government  which  could  emanate  from  the 
unconscious  ingenuity  of  the  most  stupid  legislator,  not  one  could  be  found 
equal  to  the  existing  system  of  railroad  supervision  and  regulation — the  sys- 
tem so  dear  to  the  opponents  of  State  ownership.  Upon  what  docs  that  sys- 
tem depend?  It  depends  upon  this,  that  one  man  is  to  regulate  and  su^iervise 
the  affairs  and  property  of  another.  Is  it  consistent  with  ideas  of  common 
sense,  is  it  within  l  he  bounds  of  reason,  to  suppose  that  the  man  who  owns 
will  not  do  his  best  to  control  the  man  who  regulates  ?  We  know  perfectly 
well  how  rapidly  the  movement  in  this  direction  is  now  going  on.  The  sway 
of  the  railroadman  and  the  lobbyist  is  notorious  iu  half  the  Legislatures  of  the 
country.  And  why  are  they  there  ?  They  are  there  because  your  false  system 
of  legislation  has  effected  a  separation  between  the  ownership  of  a  thing  and 
its  regulation,  and  he  who  owns  the  thing  knows  he  must  also  own  the  Legis- 
lature which  regulates  the  thing.  And  just  so  long  as  you  pursue  this  false 
system  under  correct  principles;  just  so  long  as  you  deceive  yourselves  with 
the  idea  that  you  are  not  meddling,  all  the  time  that  you  are  doing  your  best  to 
reduce  meddling  to  a  system;  just  so  long  as  you  make  one  man  own  a  thing, 
and  empower  another  to  regulate  the  value  out  of  it — ^.just  so  long  legislative 
venality  and  political  corruption  will  increase.  And  yet  the  tendency  to  ag- 
gravate this  artificially  created  conflict  of  interest — tlie  disposition  to  make 
inevitable  this  marriage  of  individual  greed  with  legislative  venality,  is  not  less 
apparent  than  it  is  alarming.  AH  over  the  country,  more  elsewhere  than  in 
Massachusetts,  we  see  legislator.^  year  by  year,  insensibly  and  as  a  matter  of 
course,  assuming  the  functions  of  irresponsible  boards  of  general  railroad  di- 
rectors. And  by  the  term  irresponsible,  I  mean  not  amendable  to  that  cau- 
tion which  is  inseparable  from  ownership.  In  the  State  of  Illinois  this  posi- 
tion is  avowedly  assumed.  We  believe  that  it  must  result,  that  it  cannot  but 
result,  in  grave  public  and  private  disaster;  that  it  will  result  in  abuses  and 
scandals  and  corruptions,  in  comparison  with  which  those  which  have  hitherto 
startled  and  shocked  us  will  be  but  as  the  dust  in  the  balance. 

"But it  would  be  a  mere  waste  of  time  to  cite  examples  of  what  I  have 
been  asserting  from  the  recent  history  of  State  legislation.  They 'are  only  too 
notorious — not,  perhaps,  in  Massachusetts,  but  not  far  from  her  borders.  Let 
us  go  at  once  to  high  places;  let  us  glance  at  that  national  scandal  and  disgrace 
which  is  now  uppermost  in  our  minds.  Let  us  see  what  the  principle  of  super- 
vision and  regulation,  unaccompanied  by  ownership,  leads  to  at  Washington. 
Who  owns  the  Pacific  Railroad?  It  was  not  built  by  West  Point  engineers; 
it  was  indeed  paid  for  out  of  the  national  treasury,  but  not  directly;  it  is  not 
(jwned  by  the  United  States.  No!  If  it  was,  the  road  would' have  been  built 
much  better,  and  for  half  its  cost.  As  the  country  .has  good  cause  to  know, 
it  was  built  by  an  institution  known  fas  the  Credit  Mobiler.  The  Credit  Mo- 
biler  owned  the  property,  but  Congress  i-eserved  a  power  to  supervise  and  reg- 
ulate it.  What  was  the  result?  Bills  were  introduced  into  Congress  to  regu- 
late the  rates  of  transportation  over  the  line,  and  to  these  those  who  owned 
it  were  naturally  opposed.  What  did  they  do  about  it?  They  did  not  bribe, 
oh,  no! — but  they  proceeded  to  "place  the  stock  where  it  would  do  most  good," 
for  they  "  wanted  more  friends  in  Congress."  Tiie  record  shows  whether  or 
no  they  got  them.  Those  who  had  proposed  to  regulate  charges  over  the  Pa- 
cific road  did  not  prosper  thereafter  in  public  life.  And  all  this  resulted  be- 
cause the  Government  would  not  own  and  would  meddle.     They  would  bring 


87 

two  great  principles  into  conflict — the  principle  of  ownership  in  one  man,  with 
the  duty  of  control  in  another;  and  as  it  was  in  this  case,  so  in  the  long  run 
will  it  be  in  all  others,  time  without  end.  The  man  who  owns  will  possess 
himself  of  the  man  who  regulates. 

"But  let  us  take  a  few  analogous  cases — cases  in  which  the  Government 
owns,  and  cases  in  which  it  supervises.  From  them  let  us  see  where  corru lo- 
tion comes  in.  The  subject  is  rich  in  analogies;  let  us  take  a  few  of  those 
which  most  readilj'  suggest  themselves.  At  Washington  there  is  the  whole 
postal  system  on  the  one  side,  and  the  Union  Pacific  Railway  on  the  other.  I  will 
not  waste  time  by  more  than  suggesting  the  comparison.  The  Government 
owned  and  managed  the  one,  and  did  not  oicn  but  supervised  the  other.  Which 
has  been  the  prolitic  source  of  corruption?  But  let  us  come  nearer  home.  Not 
a  year  passes  here  in  Massachusetts  that  the  Legislature  does  not  authorize  some 
city  or  town  to  supply  itself  with  water.  Why  should  our  municipali- 
ties go  into  the  water  business  any  more  than  into  the  bread  business? 
Cannot  aqueduct  companies  be  organized  as  readily  as  gas  companies?  There 
is  your  analogy;  now  work  out  the  result.  Our  communities  supply  them- 
selves with  water ;  private  companies  supply  them  with  gas.  The  one  is 
owned  by  the  public,  the  others  are  supervised  by* the  Legislature.  Are  your 
Water  Boards  always  in  the  lobby  ?  Are  they  represented  in  the  halls  of  Leg- 
islature ?  I  have  never  known  the  time  when  they  were,  and  I  have  never 
known  the  time  when  the  gas  companies  were  not.  Let  us  take  anotlier  case. 
Here  is  our  educational  system.  Why  should  the  Government  enter  into  the 
school  business  ?  Is  it  not  to  many  a  professipn  and  a  source  of  profit  ?  Why 
not  leave  it  to  competition  and  the  law  of  supply  and  demand  ?  Has  this  vio- 
lation of  our  fundamental  principle  as  to  governmental  interference  with 
business  undertakings  proved  a  fruitful  source  of  political  corruption  ?  I  am 
not  aware  that  either  your  committee-rooms  or  the  lobby  is  thronged  by  your 
school  teachers  or  their  attorneys.  Why  are  they  not  here  ?  It  is  simply  be- 
cause you  have  not  sought  to  divide  the  ownership  of  the  system  from  the  con- 
trol of  the  system.  Suppose  you  treated  your  schools  as  you  treat  your  rail- 
roads. Suppose  that  you  went  out  of  the  school  business  yourselves,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  peddle  out  charters  to  others,  who  went  into  the  business  to  make 
money.  Then  suppose  you  went  to  work  to  supervise  and  to  regulate— pro- 
viding that  every  one  should  be  educated,  and  that  working  men's  children 
should  be  educated  at  less  than  cost ;  that  such  and  such  things  should  be 
taught,  and  that  so  much  should  be  charged  for  tuition,  and  so  on  through  all 
your  precedents  of  railroad  legislation.  How  long  would  it  be  before  your 
school  teachers  would  have  a  lobby  up  here  which  would  give  the  Committee 
on  Education  as  much  to  do  as  the  Railroad  Committee  has  now?  Fortu- 
nately, the  State  has  long  since  entered  into  certain  of  the  few  exceptional 
lines  of  business  which  are  practical  monopolies  ;  and  the  harmless,  innocent, 
guileless  system  of  supervision  and  regulation  has  been  chiefly  confined  to 
railroads  and  gas  companies." 

Mr.  Adams  is  a  man  of  high  character  and  great  ability,  and  has  probably 
given  more  attention  to  the  study  of  the  transportation  problem,  in  its  rela 
tions  to  the  public,  than  any  other  man  in  the  United  States,  and  his  opinion, 
so  emphatically  expressed  in  favor  of  absolute  ownership  by  the  State  of  part 
of  our  system  of  improved  highways,  should  carry  great  weight.  In  the 
opinion  of  your  Committee  a  very  small  portion  of  the  entire  S5'stem  would 
suffice.     The  moral  effect  of 

ONE   EXCLUSIVE   FREIGHT   ROAD   PROM   THE   GRAtN-GROWING   SECTIONS   OF   THE 
WEST   TO   THE   SEABOARD 

would  be  very  great ;  it  would  demonstrate  how  cheaply  freight  can  be  carried 
by  rail,  and  as  soon  as  this  is  ascertained  public  opinion  will  soon  compel  ex- 
isting roads  to  make  short  work  of  the  abuses  which  are  absorbing  the  reve- 
nues of  the  present  system. 


28 

THE   OBJECTIONS   WHICH   ABE   URGED 

against  the  building  of  such  a  highway  by  the  Government  are  that  in  build- 
ing it  would  be  mismanaged  and  cost  double  the  amount  it  should  cost;  that 
after  it  was  finished  the  management  would  prove  defective;  that  the  main- 
tenance of  the  road-bed  would  make -it  necessary  to  employ  a  large  number  of 
men,  which  would  be  another  powerful  political  machine,  and  that  such  cen- 
tralization of  power  in  the  hands  of  the  National  Government  would  be  dan- 
gerous, und  that  it  would  be  a  fruitful  source  of  corruption  for  all  time  to 
come;  that  such  a  road  could  never  be  located,  for  every  city  at  the  West  and 
every  city  at  the  East  would  want  it  at  their  own  doors;  and  lastly,  that  it 
would  never  pay  if  it  were  built. 

All  of  these  objections  were  urged  when  De  Witt  Clinton  advocated  the 
construction  of  tiie  Erie  Canal,  a  public  highway  which  has  been  the  only 
competition  which  tlie  people  have  been  able  to  use  in  protecting  themselves 
against  soulless  corporations,  because  it  lias  been  the  only  method  of  transpor- 
tation which  has  been  oienedhy  the  people,  and  which  private  monopolies  could 
not  force  into  combination.  Without  this  competition,  defective  and  spas- 
modic as  it  has  been,  the  City  and  State  of  New  York  could  not  have  obtained  the 
commercial  pre-eminence  they  now  enjoy,  and  the  development  of  the  West 
would  have  been  greatly  retarded.  This  competition  is  effective  as  long  as  it 
lasts  and  so  far  as  it  goes,  but  railwaj^s  have,  for  carrying  many  kinds  of  goods, 
practically  superseded  canals  and  revolutionized  the  commerce  of  the  country. 
Besides,  canals  are  not  available  at  all  seasons  ;  therefore,  to  obtain  relief  from 
the  ills  under  which  we  suffer  we  must  have  an  Iron  Highway.  In  regard  to 
the  lirst  objection,  above  noted,  we  will  estimate  the  cost :  A  majority  of  the 
present  W'estern  roads  originally  cost  to  build  and  equip  less  than  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars  per  mile,  although  in  these  days  of  "  constiuiction  companies" 
and  other  modern  improvements,  it  is  estimated  that  a  double  track  road 
through  an  average  section  of  country  would  cost  about  fifty  thousand  dollars 
per  mile.  If  this  is  thought  insufficient,  however,  double  it,  and  say  it  will 
coat  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  per  mile — from  New  York  to  the  heart  of 
the  continent  is  about  twelve  hundred  miles,  and,  therefore,  an  approximate 
cost  of  about  $120,000,000. 

But  it  is  probable  that  such  a  road  could  be  built  in  sections  by  contract, 
under  rigid  specifications,  at  a  much  less  price  than  this.  Under  West  Point 
engineers  and  Government  contracts,  we  would  have  no  "Credit  Mobilers," 
and  it  is  not  improbable  that  there  would  be  a  laudable  rivalry  to  construct 
such  a  great  public  highway  honestly  and  creditably.  The  interest  on  this 
sum  at  seven  per  cent,  is  $8,400,000.  The  State  of  New  York,  alone,  in  1873, 
paid  ihe  railroad  companies  within  its  borders  $93,000,000,  arid  there  are  not 
merchants  but  will  admit  that  with  proper  competition  this  sum  might  have 
been  reduced  more  than  $8,400,000.  In  regard  to  the  second  objection,  that 
the  Government  management  would  prove  defective,  we  ask,  has  the  manage- 
ment of  the  Erie  Canal  been  worse  than  that  of  the  Erie  Railway,  or  of  the 
average  of  railway  management  ?  In  regard  to  its  being  made  a  political 
machine,  to  a  certain  extent  tlie  post-office  system  is  a  political  machine,  yet  it 
works  tolerably  well,  and  we  would  not  willingly  give  it  up  because  of  that 
objection. 

As  to  its  centralization  of  power,  it  is  somewhat  of  an  anomaly  to  raise  this 


objection  when  the  very  oiject  of  this  project  is  to  obtain  relief  from  a  centralization 
of  power — a  centralization  not  in  the  hands  of  the  government,  tohich  vn  this  coun- 
try is  the  people — but  in  the  hands  of  corporations,  which  by  combination  Jiave  be- 
come, for  the  time  being,  more  powerful  than  tlie  people. 

In  regard  to  its  being  a  source  of  corruption,  in  the  opinion  of  this  com- 
mittee it  could  not,  under  any  circumstances,  be  productive  of  as  much  corrup- 
tion as  now  prevails  under  our  present  railway  system. 

It  is  notorious  that  nine-tenths  of  the  money  corruptly  spent  to  influence 
legislation  comes  from  railways,  in  their  efforts  to  obtain  legislation  antagon- 
istic to  the  interests  of  the  people,  and  instead  of  such  a  highway  being  pro- 
ductive of  more  corruption  of  this  character,  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  Committee, 
based  upon  careful  investigation,  that  it  would  be  a  potent  agent  in  reducing 
the  amount  of  money  so  expended,  for,  as  stated,  it  would  inaugurate  an  era 
of  retrenchment  and  economy  in  railway  management,  instead  of  the  reckless 
and  lavish  expenditure  that  now  prevails.  And  here  this  committee  desire  to 
mention  that  the  adoption  of  a  Civil  Service  System,  in  which  no  employee  is 
liable  to  discharge  on  account  of  political  opinion,  and  preferment  is  to  be  ob- 
tained only  by  efficiency  and  honesty,  will  do  much  to  remedy  both  the  ineffi- 
ciency and  corruption  the  fear  ^f  which  constitutes  the  last  two  objections. 

In  regard  to  the  difficulty  of  locating  such  a  road  there  can  be  no  serious 
trouble  ;  in  the  opinion  of  this  Committee  such  a  road  should  be  a  great  central 
artery,  communicating  by  branches  with  the  great  distributing  points  of  the 
West  and  the  principal  cities  of  the  seaboard. 

The  success  of  this  project  means  cheap  food  for  hand-workers  and  head- 
workers  at  the  East,  and  to  the  producers  of  the  West  it  means  cheap  comforts 
of  life  ;  both  ai"e  too  dear  and  too  few  to  have  them  needlessly  curtailed  by  a 
defective  system  of  transportation. 

In  regard  to  the  last  objection,  that  it  will  not  pay.  In  the  opinion  of  this 
Committee,  such  a  work  would  pay  a  liberal  interest  on'the  investment ;  ii  is 
not  a  wild  scheme  for  constructing  a  road  like  the  Northern  Pacific,  two  tliousand 
miles  through  a  new  country  with  only  prospective  profit  in  land  speculation, 
but  it  would  pass  through  the  garden  ot  the  West,  with  an  immense  traffic  as- 
sured from  the  start,  and  all  the  probabilities  are  in  favor  of  the  opinion  that 
as  an  investment  it  would  pay.  But  suppose  it  did  not  pay  one  penny  of  in- 
terest, that  it  sunk  all  of  its  earnings,  and  ten  millions  of  dollars  per  year  in 
addition,  it  would  be  the  best  investment  that  the  people  of  the  United  States  could 
make,  for  it  would  save  them  ten  millions  of  dollars  for  every  million  laid  out ; 
save  it  to  producers  and  consumers,  both  at  the  East  and_,the  West,  in  the  in- 
terchange of  corn  and  wheat,  cattle  and  coal,  for  the  thousand  and  one  articles 
we  manufacture,  import  and  deal  in,  and  save  it  ten  times  over  to  the  whole 
country  in  the  effect  that  it  woidd  have  upon  tlie  management  of  our  present  rail- 
way system,  and  in  the  enhancement  in  value  of  landed  property.  That  the 
Government  has  the  constitutional  right  to  construct  such  a  work  there  can 
be  no  doubt,  for  the  Constitution  expressly  confers  the  right  "  to  regulate 
commerce  between  the  States  ;"  it  is  also  admitted  that  it  has  the  right  to 
construct  highways,  and  indeed  the  country  has  become  so  extended  that  high- 
ways of  this  kind  are  absolutely  necessary  to  bind  the  country  together  in 
bonds  of  common  interest. 

The  Report  of  the  United   States  Senate  Committee  on  Transportation 


30 

Routes  takee  broad  ground  in  this  respect,  and  concurs  in  this  view  of  the  sub 
jeet.    The  text  of  their  report  is  as  follows  : 

First.  That  the  powers  of  Congress,  whatever  they  may  be,  are  derived 
directly  from  the  people  of  the  several  States,  and  not  from  the  States  them- 
selves. 

Second.  That  every  important  word  in  the  clauses  which  confer  the 
"  power  to  regulate  commerce  among  the  several  States,"  and  to  "  make  all 
laws  which  shall  be  necessary  for  carrying  it  into  execution,"  has  received 
legislative,  executive  and  judicial  construction,  and  under  such  construction 
the  power  of  Congress  to  regulate  inter-State  transportation  by  railroads,  and 
to  aid  and  facilitate  commerce,  is  clearly  established. 

Third.  That  in  the  exercise  of  this  power,  Congress  is  authorized,  under 
the  grant  of  auxiliary  p6wer,  to  employ  such  means  as  are  appropriate  and 
plainly  adapted  to  their  execution. 

Fourth. — That  in  the  selection  of  means  by  which  inter-State  commerce 
shall  be  regulated  Congress  may — 

1.  Prescribe  the  rules  by  which  the  instruments,  vehicles  and  agents, 
engaged  in  transporting  commodities  from  one  State  into  or  through  another, 
shall  be  governed,  whether  such  transportation  is  by  laud  or  water. 

3.  That  it  may  appropriate  money  for  the  construction  of  railways  or 
canals,  when  the  same  shall  be  necessary  for  the  regulation  of  commerce. 

3.  That  it  may  incorporate  a  company  with  authority  to  construct  them. 

4.  That  it  may  exercise  the  right  of  eminent  domain  within  a  State  in 
order  to  provide  for  the  construction  of  such  railways  and  canals,  or, 

5.  It  may,  in  the  exercise  of  the  right  of  eminent  domain,  take  for  the  pub- 
lic use,  paying  just  compensation  therefor,  any  existing  railway  or  canal  owned 
by  private  persons  or  corporations. 

No  doubt  there  will  be  found  many  who  dissent  from  these  propositions,  for 
all  who  are  interested  in  perpetuating  the  defects  and  abuses  of  the  present 
system  will  bitterly  oppose  any  reform,  and  these  men  are  to  be  found  in  every 
walk  of  life,  from  the  merchant  capitalist  down  to  the  railroad  employee  ; 
from  Senators  and  Repreeentatives  in  Congress  down  to  the  harpies  of  the 
lobby;  each  and  every  one  will  faithfully  act  their  part  in  trying  to  defeat  the 
reform.  But  "  truth  is  mighty  and  will  prevail,"  and  we  have  no  fear  for  the 
ultimate  result.  The  welfare  of  the  nation  is  involved  in  this  question,  and 
while  the  people  move  slowly  yet  the  movement  is  sure  and  irresistible. 

In  conclusion,  your  Committee  summarize  their  recommendations  as 
follows  :  That  the  most  effective  and  permanent  remedy  for  the  evils  of  our 
transportation  system  is  competition ;  that  the  most  effective  competition  will 
be  found  in  railroads,  provided  they  are  owned  by  the  people ;  that  improve- 
ment of  our  principal  w^ater-courses,  together  with  the  construction  of  short 
lines  of  canal  to  connect  large  bodies  of  water,  is  also  necessary,  and  that 
certain  laws  of  a  general  character  will  also  be  found  useful  as  auxiliaries  pend- 
ing the  construction  of  the  above-mentioned  works. 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

F.  B.  THURBER,  of  N.  Y. 
A.    B.   SMEDLEY,  of  Iowa. 
S.    R.    MOORE,  of  111. 
O.    M.  DORM  AN,  of  Va. 
ALEX,   WHITE,  of  Ala. 

Committee. 


31 

Mr.  Wise  moved  that  the  report  be  referred  to  a  Committee  of  One  from  each 
Delegation  present,  to  report  respecting  the  same  to  the  Convention,  to  be 
selected  by  the  Delegation. 

Col.  Carrington  suggested  it  would  not  be  fair  to  some  States,  as  there 
were  other  States  having  here  several  delegations  from  different  bodies. 

Gen.  RossER  moved  a  committee  on  reports  be  appointed,  to  be  composed " 
of  one  delegate  from  each  State  and  Territory,  selected  by  the  delegates  from 
these*  States  and  Territories. 

Col.  Peyton  favored  one  from  each  State  as  fair.  He  would  scorn 
to  have  the  matter  decided  by  mere  numbers.  [Cheers.]  We  stand  here 
to-day  on  fraternal  ground  to  accept  whatever  the  North-West  may  fairly  offer. 
And  we  expect  to  be  put  on  the  same  ground  as  they,  or  those  of  New  York. 

Mr.  Wise  withdrew  his  motion. 

Mr.  Thurber  moved  that  there  be  a  similar  Committee  appointed  by  the 
Chair  upon  Business  and  Resolutions.  -  Adopted. 

On  motion,  adjourned  until  8  o'clock  this  evening. 


EVENING  SESSION. 

• 

Tuesday,  Dec.  1, 1874. 
The  President,  Josiah  Quincy  in  the  Chair. 

Committees  on  Resolutions  and  Business,  and  Committee  on  Reports, 
•vfere  nominated  by  delegates  from  the  several  States: 

committees. 
On  Besolutwm.  States.  On  Reports. 

Chas.  E.  Hill New  York F.  B.  Thurber. 

N.  D.  Ingersol Colorado. N.  D.  Ingersol. 

Gen.  T.  L.  Rosser Minnesota Gen.  Rosser. 

F.  D.  Davidson Missouri  ..- F.  G.  Conant. 

Gen.  A.  S.  Piatt.... Ohio S.  H.  ElUs. 

Chas.  S.  Carrington Virginia  R.  M.  T.  Hunter. 

M.  F.  Maury West  Virginia Col.  W.  Procter  Smith. 

Col.  B.  W.  Frobel ...  Georgia E.  M.  Rucker. 

Col.  Wm.  Johnson North  Carolina A.  Graves. 

Wm.  L.Moody . Texas Wm.'L.  Moody. 

Lyman  Bridges Illinois... Jas.  L.  Allen. 

Col.  D.  Wyatt  Aiken South  Carolma D.  W.  Aiken. 

Col.  R.  M.  Littler Iowa    Waldo  M.  Potter 

Wm.  Maxwell.- Tennessee Wm.  Maxwell. 

Wm.  Keyser Maryland  Odin  Bowie. 

Geo.  Deering Kentucky   M.  S.Belknap. 

R.  H.  Ferguson,  Secretary,  then  presented  his  Annual  Report  as  follows  : 
Gentlemen  op  the  Convention  :  We  are  convened  here  to-day  from  almost 
every  ^tate  of  our  great  Republic.    The  South  and  the  North,  the  East  and  the 
West,  have  met  here  to  take  counsel  for  the  relief  of  the  people  in  their  respec- 
tive localities.     From  almost  every  part  of  our  land  can  be  heai'd  the  low  mur- 


32 

murings  of  the  people.  With  commendable  forbearance,  they  are  waiting 
patientlj'  for  legislative  and  judicial  acts  to  give  them  relief.  They  have 
seen  a  power  created  ^by  themselves,  or  permitted  by  their  acquiesence,  to 
grow  up  in  their  midst,  until  it  threatens  to  make  their  laws,  to  dictate  to  them 
what  they  must  pay  for  their  food,  fuel  and  clothing,  and  even  names  the  price 
of  the  commodities  they  have  to  sell. 

We  have  this  humiliating  condition  to  contemplate,  that,  widely  separated 
as  are  the  different  sections  of  our  nation,  every  iron  highway  that  leads  from 
one  city  to  another,  from  one  State  to  another,  and  over  which,  owing  to  the 
great  distances  which  sepai-ate  the  one  section  from  the  other,  all  our  com- 
merce and  people  must  travel.  Yet,  strange  as  it  must  appear  to  the  thinking 
minds,  nearly  every  one  of  those  iron  highways  of  transit  are  owned  by  a  cor- 
poration, by  a  few  men  who  levy  and  collect  tribute  from  the  whole  nation. 

Our  iron^  highways  should  be  as  free  as  our  turnpikes.  They  should  be 
controlled  by  the  people  ;md  never  left  for  corporations  of  private  individuals  to 
manage.  These  corporations  have  abused  the  privileges  the  people  permitted 
them  fb  enjoy  ;  and  it  is  to  take  counsel  as  to  the  best  mode  of  correcting  these 
abuses  and  affording  the  people  relief,  in  a  peaceful  and  just  manner,  that  we 
have  assembled  here  to  day.  True,  we  have  no  legislative  power,  but  in  the 
language  of  the  illustrious  John  Adams  (who  in  reply  to  a  question  asked  him 
bj'^  our  woith}^  President,  said):  "  We  are  but  the  glittering  edge  of  the  battle 
axe — the  power  and  momentum  is  in  tlie  people  that  are  behind  us."  These 
people  are  now,  as  in  the  early  daj^s  of  our  revolution,  seeking  a  peaceful  and 
honorable  means  of  relief.  But  if  all  our  efforts  are  rendered  useless  through 
technical  ffaws  and  subterfuges,  who  can  tell  what  may  follow  ? 

If  I  may  be  permitted  the  liberty  of  making  a  few  .suggestions  on  this 
occasion,  I  should  say  that  I  believe  all  of  us  are  prompted  by  a  mutual 
desire  to  aid  each  section.  I  trust  there  will  be  no  selfishness  manifested. 
The  securing  of  the  best  and  cheapest  modes  of  transit  for  the  different  localities 
is  our  aim.  Do  not  permit  private  or  personal  projects  to  interfere  with  a 
candid  and  careful  examinalion  of  the  different  modes  and  routes  of  transpor- 
tation. Let  us  have  a  fair  and  able  criticism  of  all  that  is  presented.  By  this 
means  only  can  we  make  our  deliberations  of  value. 

I  will  now  in  a  brief  manner  review  some  of  the  means  that  have  been 
used  the  past  year  toward  securing  cheaper  and  better  facilities  for  transpor- 
tation. 

In  the  State  of  New  York  tlie  Legislature  made  an  appropriation  for  a 
survey  of  the  Hudson  River  and  Champlain  Ship  Canal  route.  This  survey  is 
now  nearly  completed.  Mr.  Alex.  G.  Johnson,  editor  of  the  Troy  Daily  Whig, 
was  permitted  to  see  some  of  the  figures,  and  in  an  editorial  article  in  that 
paper  of  October  26,  1874,  says: 

The  survey  for  tlie  ship  canal  from  Troy  to  Lake  Champlain  is  so  nearly 
completed  that  certain  data  may  be  taken  as  settled.  Slack-water  navigation 
may  be  obtained  for  vessels  drawing  eleven  feet  of  water  (giving  twelve  feet  of 
water  on  the  mitre  sills  of  the  locks),  by  raising  the  crest  of  the  State  dam  at 
Troy  about  two  feet,  building  eleven  new  dams  between  the  State  dam  and  Fort 
Edward,  and  using  the  new  State  dam  at  Port  Miller.  The  cost  of  this  slaCk- 
water  navigation  will  be  about  $8,000,000.  A  canal  can  be  built  from  the  Hud- 
son River  at  Port  Edward  to  Whitehall,  making  one  lock  at  Port  Edward  of 


33 

twelve  feet  lift,  ninninu;  this  level  through  to  near  Whitehall,  and  locking  down 
into  Lake  Champlain  l)y  three  locks  of  twelve  feet  lift  each,  making  the  total 
number  of  locks  in  the  canal  four.  This  line  runs  through  the  low  ground  to 
the  east  of  the  present  canal  and  the  railroad,  thereby  reducing  the  number  of 
locks  (eight  now  in  use)  to  four.  The  new  line  crosses  the  Rensselaer  and 
Saratoga  railroad  but  once,  and  that  only  the  Castleton  branch  at  Whitehall. 
The  canal  following  this  line  will  be  a  thorough  cut  all  the  waJ^  thereby  obvi- 
ating the  possibility  of  a  break.  A  thorough  cut  means  a  trench  without  any 
embankment,  'it  is  intended  by  damming  Wood  Creek  at  Whitehall  to  use  a 
portion  of  it  for  navigation,  reducing  the  length  of  canal  required  to  twenty- 
five  miles.  It  follows  that  the  whole  length  of  artificial  Avater-way  between 
Troy  and  Chicago  and  Duluth  will  be  eighty -two  miles,  being  (me  hundred  and 
twelve  miles  less  than  by  the  shortest  of  all  other  routes.  It  is  proper  to  add 
that  the  eighty-two  miles  is  the  canals  used  on  the  trips  from  the  lakes  down 
to  the  ocijan.  For  the  up  trips  the  St.  Lawrence  canals  must  be  added,  or 
twenty-seven  miles  more.  The  number  of  feet  of  lockage  in  rising  from 
tide-water  to»Lake  Erie  would  be,  by  this  route  from  Troy  to  Whitehall,  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet;  from  Lake  Champlain  to  the  St.  Lawrence,  twenty-five 
feet ;  on  the  St.  Lawrence  canals,  one  hundred  and  sixty -two  feet,  and  on  the 
AVelland  Canal,  three  hundred  and  thirty;  in  the  aggregate,  six  hundred  and  six- 
ty-seven feet.  The  lockage  will  be  less  than  on  any  other  route.  The  eleva- 
tion to  be  overcome  is  also  less.  It  is  true  that  the  level  of  the  upper  lakes  must 
be  reached  by  both  routes,  but  by  the  Erie  Canal  we  must  ascend  five  hundred 
and  sixty-five  feet  to  Lockport  ;  and  by  the  Oswego  route  we  must  ascend  four 
hundred  and  twenty-seven  feet  to  Rome,  and  descend  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
four  feet  to  Lake  Ontario.  By  the  Champlain  route  we  ascend  one  hundred 
and  forty-three  feet  to  Fort  Edward,  and  descend  forty-eight  feet  to  Whitehall, 
and  another  twenty -five  feet  to  the  St.  Lawrence  from  Lake  Champlain.  We 
then  ascend  the  St.  Lawrence  to  Lake  Ontario,  a  rise  of  about  one  hundred  and 
seventy-two  feet.  The  ascent  and  descent  by  the  Lak«  Champlain  route  will 
be  three  hundred  and  eighty-five  feet,  and  by  the  Oswego  route  six  hundred 
and  eleven  feet.  By  the  Erie  Canal,  the  ascent  will  be  from  Troy  to  Rome 
four  hundred  and  twenty -seven  feet ;  descent  to  Montezuma  thirty-six  feet ; 
ascent  to  Lockport  one  hundred  and  seventy-four  feet  ;  in  all  six  hundred  and 
thirty-seven  feet.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  lift  up  and  down  on  the  Cham- 
plain route  is  two  hundred  and  fifty-two  feet  less  than  on  the  Erie  route,  and 
two  hundred  and  twenty-six  feet  less  than  on  the  Oswego  route. 

"  On  the  question  of  water  supply  it  is  admitted  that  a  ship  canal  of  the 
requisite  dimensions  cannot  be  supplied  beyond  Rome  on  the  Erie  Canal.  But 
it  cannot  be  questioned  that  by  properly  stoi-ing  the  flood  water  in  Spring  and 
Fall  in  the  natural  lake  reservoirs  of  the  Adirondack  region,  a  more  than  suffi- 
cient supply  can  be  obtained  for  the  Champlain  Canal. 

"  The  number  of  bridges  and  other  structures  on  the  Champlain  route  will 
be  less  in  proportion  as  the  length  of  the  canal  is  less.  The  number  on  the 
present  Erie  Canal  is  more  than  500;  on  the  Champlain  Canal  140;  and  on  the 
Oswego  Canal  only  23.  Other  expensive  structures  would  be  proportionately 
less.  The  lift  locks  on  the  Erie  Canal  are  76.  On  the  proposed  route  as  far  as 
the  St.  Lawrence  the  number  will  be  only  19.  Mr.  McAlpine  estimated  the 
total  cost  of  ship  canal  route  from  Troy  to  Caughnawaga  at  $15,000,000.  If  the 


34 

Caughnawaga  Canal  can  be  built  for  $3,000,000,  then  the  canal  from  Fort  Ed- 
ward to  Wliitehall  can  be  built  for  that  sum.  The  canal  and  slack-water  navi- 
gation from  Troy  to  Whitehall  will  cost  $11,000,000.  A  ship  canal  from  Troy 
to  Oswego  would  cost  not  less  than  $30,000,000,  and  one  from  Troy  to  Buffalo 
not  less  than  $100,000,000." 

Tiie  immense  value  to  New  York  State  and  City,  and  the  Eastern  Stales, 
that  would  accrue  by  completing  this  route  is  scarcely  to  be  computed.  The 
vast  pineries  of  Canada  would  furnish  cheap  lumber  for  the  wants  of  millions, 
furnishing  the  means  to  the  poor  people  in  New  York  and  the  New  England 
States  to  secure  cheap  houses.  But  if  the  City  of  New  York  expects  to  in- 
crease their  export  of  grain  by  the  completion  of  this  route,  they  will  probably 
be  mistaken,  for  the  reason  that  the  Caughnawaga  Canal  (the  conecting  link 
between  Lake  Champlain  and  the  St.  Lawrence  River)  commences  on  the  St. 
Lawrence  River  opposite  and  near  the  port  of  Montreal,  and  it  is  hardly  reason- 
able to  think  that  the  Canadians,  after  having  coaxed  the  grain  to  their  own 
port,  will  permit  it  to  slip  through  their  hands  and  go  to  New  Yojk  for  export. 

The  New  York  Central  Railroad  has  nearly  completed  four  tracks,  two 
for  freight  and  two  for  passenger  traffic.  This  will  increase  the  carrying 
capacity  of  that  road  immensely,  at  the  same  time  enable  them  to  carry 
freight  at  a  very  low  rate,  but  not  as  low  as  they  could  do  if  they  had  not 
sixt}^  millions  of  dollars  of  watered  stock  to  pay  dividends  upon. 

The  Hoosac  Tunnel  was  opened  in  Jul}',  and  as  soon  as  tracks  are  laid 
and  connected  with  roads  on  both  sides  of  the  mountain,  this  will  then  be  one 
of  the  most  important  links  between  Massachusetts  and  the  West.  The  man- 
agement of  that  tunnel  is  a  subject  of  almost  national  importance.  It  is  of 
vital  moment  to  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  and  of  great  interest  to 
the  States  west  of  it.  If  the  State  retain  possession  of  the  tunnel,  allowing 
all  roads  (that  ]5lease  to  connect  with  it)  to  pass  through  by  paying  a  reason- 
al)le  toll,  without  any  discrimination,  then  it  will  be  a  great  benetit.  But  if  it 
be  leased  to  any  corporation  or  railroad  line,  the  parties  so  leasing  it  at  once 
become  a  monopoly.  Having  an  advantage  over  all  other  routes,  it  can  easily 
make  cowibinations  that  no  power  short  of  revolution  could  destroy.  So  long 
as  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  holds  possession,  they  have  a  power 
over  all  railroad  corporations  who  wish  to  pass  through  the  tunnel.  If  the 
roads  are  exorbitant  in  their  rates  of  transportation,  the  State  can  refuse 
them  the  privilege  of  passing  through  the  tunnel  until  the  rates  are  reduced  to 
wliat  is  considered  fairly  remunerative.  I  have  faith,  however,  that  the 
eminent  statesmen  of  that  Commonwealth  will  guard  the  interests  of  her 
people  in  this  matter  with  a  watchful  eye. 

The  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad  has  completed  its  line  to  Chicago. 
Thus  this  well  managed  corporation  has  afforded  the  farmers  of  Illinois  and 
the  North- West  another  outlet  for  their  productions,  and  at  the  s.tme  time 
aflbrded  the  merchants  of  Baltimore  the  fi/iest  terminal  facilities  for  exporting, 
receiving,  shipping  and  handling  grain  and  merchandise,  of  any  city  in  the 
country.  In  this  connection  I  may  add  that  too  much  praise  cannot  be 
given  to  this  corporation,  and  also  the  Grand  Trunk  Railway  of  Canada,  for 
refusing  to  become  parlies  to  the  combinations  of  the  other  trunk  lines. 

That  the  other  roads  earnestly  desire  this  combination,  is  proved  by  the 
Convention,  November  12th,  in  Baltimore,  of  the  President,  Vice-President 


*35 

and  General  Freight  Agent  of  the  N.  Y.  C.  &  H.  R.  R.R.  ;  the  President 
and  Vice-President  of  the  Boston  and  Albany  ;  the  President  and  other  offi- 
cials of  the  Pennsylvania  Central,  and  also  of  the  Erie  Railroad.  It  was 
found  that  if  all  through  lines  did  not  agree  to  advance  rates,  it  would  be  a 
difficult  matter  to  do  it.  Now  there  is  a  lesson  to  be  learned  from  this.  If 
we  have  a  people's  double  track  freight  railway  from  West  to  East,  crossing 
the  Continent,  so  protected  by  charters  that  it  never  could  be  made  a  party  to 
these  combinations,  built  for  cash,  and  honestly  built,  the  people  then  would 
hold  the  key  to  the  transportation  question.  Such  a  line  would  become  a 
regulator  of  rates  for  all  parallel  lines. 

Prospects  are  now  favorable  for  the  construction  of  the  Chicago  and 
South  Atlantic  Railway.  The  proposed  line  of  this  road  is  from  Chicago — 
via  Indianapolis,  Ind. ;  Lexington,  Ky. ;  Morristown,  Tcnn. ;  then  via  of  either 
Spartausburg  to  Columbia,  S.  C,  or  Abbey ville  to  Agusta,  Ga.,  thence  branch- 
ing to  Charleston,  Port  Royal  and  Savannah.  The  advantages  of  this  route 
to  the  States  of  North,  South  Carolina  and  East  Georgia,  are  manifold.  The 
distance  from  Charleston  to  Chicago  over^this  route  is  stated  by  Major  N.  J. 
Vail  to  be  786  miles;  while  the  distance  from  Chicago  to  New  York  City 
varies  from  935  to  1,043  miles,  according  to  which  of  four  routes  you  take. 
The  people  of  the  South  Atlantic  States  mentioned  will,  by  building  this 
road,  be  enabled  to  purchase  corn  ladd  downcast  of  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountains 
for  the  same  price  (or  less)  than  it  can  be  hadin  New  York  City. 

I  am  informed  that,  before  the  war,  corn  frequently  sold  in  East  Tennessee 
as  low  as  20  cents  per  bushel,  and  just  the  other  side  of  the  mountains  from  one 
dollar  upwards. 

From  March  to  October,  1873,  corn  ranged  in  Chicago  from  39  cents  to 
43  cents  per  bushel;  at  Charleston,  from  80  cents  to  $1;  Savannah,  85  cents  to 
$1;  the  interior  of  South  Carolina  and'  Georgia,  $1  to  $1.50  per  bushel.  This 
will  average  as  follows:  Chicago,  36  cents;  Charleston,  90  cents;  Savannah, 
92^  cents;  interior  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  $1.25  per  bushel;  and  this 
year  much  higher,  as  corn  has  averaged  in  Chicago  the  last  three  mouths  75 
cents  per  bushel. 

By  the  average  36  cents  for  Chicago,  and  $1.25  for  the  interior  of  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia,  there  remains  a  margin  of  89  cents,  which  has  been  con- 
sumed in  transportation  and  other  charges,  caused  partly  by  the  grain  first 
going  to  New  York  by  long  routes,  then  being  transhipped  with  heavy  addi- 
tional charges,  and  sent  to  Charleston  or  Savannah,  where  it  must  be  again 
transhipped  to  the  interior.  But,  with  this  route  constructed,  grain  could  be 
shipped  from  Chicago  to  Savannah,  Charleston  or  Port  Royal,  tor  50  cents  per 
100  lbs.  at  the  most,  and  at  a  profit  at  40  cents  per  100  lbs.  That  distinguished 
engineer,  Wm.  J.  McAlpine,  says  that,  giving  him  the  track,  he  can  transport 
freight  by  rail  (over  steel  rails)  at  a  speed  of  8  miles  per  hour,  325  miles  and  haul 
the  cars  back  empty,  for  $1.72  per  ton,  for  the  first  five  hundred  thousand  tons, 
and  for  $1.06  for  the  second  five  hundred  thousand  tons.  This  $1  06  is  3  mills 
and  three-tenths  per  ton  per  mile,  loaded  only  one  way;  and  if  loaded  back  it 
would  reduce  it  still  more.  At  this  rale  of  $1.06  for  325  miles,  it  would  cost 
for  786  miles  $2.57  per  ton  from  Chicago  to  Charleston,  Savannah,  Port  Royal, 
or  any  point  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge;  fifty  cents  per  100  lbs.  is  $10  per  ton,  or 
nearly  four  times  what  Engineer  McAlpine  says  it  can  be  done  for.     At  $110 


36 

per  ton  the  freight  is  28  cents  pei"  bnshel  of  corn  from  Chicago  to  the  east  of 
the  Bhie  Ridge.  This  28  cents  added  to  the  average  price  in  Chicago,  36  cents, 
would  make  corn  cost  64  cents  at  any  point  along  the  line  of  the  railroad  east 
of  the  Blae  Ridge.  Take  64  cents  from  $1.25,  the  average  of  what  this  section 
has  paid,  and  it  leaves  a  saving  of  61  cents  per  bushel  on  all  the  corn  im- 
ported, which  is  stated  to  be  about  40,000,000  bushels  in  Major  Vail's  report. 
Tliere  is  also  about  20,000,000  bushels  of  other  kinds  of  grain  consumed  in  this 
section.  The  saving  Qf  61  cents  on  corn  aione  would  amount  to  the  handsome 
sum  of  $24,400,000,  and  add  $10,000,000  more  for  the  other  grain,  flour  and 
provisions,  and  you  save  enough  in  those  three  States  in  one  year  to  construct 
and  equip  the  whole  line  of  road,  leaving  out  of  consideration  the  increased 
value  of  the  cotton  production  that  will  accrue,  when  the  South  can  buy  cheap 
flour,  corn  and  bacon,  and  devote  their  time  and  energies  wholly  to  the  cotton 
plant  and  other  productions  congenial  to  their  climates,  beside  the  coal,  iron 
and  minerals  that  will  thus  find  an  outlet  to  market. 

The  Senate  .Committee  on  Transportation  Routes  have  made  their  report, 
concluding  that  the  following  are  the  most  feasible  and  advantageous  channels 
of  commerce  to  be  created  or  improved,  namely. : 

'■'■First :  The  Mississippi  River. 

"  Second:  A  continuous  water  line  of  adequate  capacity  from  the  Missis- 
sippi River  to  the  City  of  New  York,  via  the  Northern  lakes. 

"  Third:  A  route  adecjuate  to  the  wants  of  commerce,  through  the  central 
tier  of  States,  from  the  Mississippi  River,  via  the  Ohio  and  Kanawha  Rivei's,  to 
a  point  in  West  Virginia,  and  thence  by  canal  and  slack  water,  or  by  a  freigM 
railway,  to  tide  water. 

"  Fourth  :  A  route  from  the  Mississippi  River,  via  the  Ohio  and  Tennessee 
Rivers,  to  a  point  in  Alabama  or  Tennessee,  and  thence  by  canal  and  slack 
water,  or  by  a  freight  railway,  to  the  ocean." 

The  grefit  value  of  the  Mississippi  River  route  for  transportation  cannot  be 
too  highly  estimated,  and  no  etfort  should  be  lacking  on  the  part  of  our 
Government  to  always  keep  its  channels  free  from  all  obstructions.  The  third 
and  fourth  routes  mentioned  in  the  report,  I  believe,  have  their  advocates  here, 
who  are  all  better  posted  in  regard  to  their  respective  merits  than  I  am,  so  I 
will  leave  them  for  future  consideration  in  our  proceedings. 

I  do  not  know  whether  the  Senate  Committee's  instructions  limited  them 
to  water  routes  or  to  water  and  rail. 

But  if  an  examination  of  the  cost  of  carrying  freight  by  rail  had  been 
made,  and  the  views  of  competent  authority  not  in  the  interest  of  the  present 
system  of  railway  management  obtained,  it  would  have  been  of  value. 

A  comparison  of  the  tonnage  carried  on  all  the  canals  in  the  State  of  New 
York  and  that  over  the  Erie  and  the  N.  Y.  C.  &  H.  R.  R.R. ,  shows  the  follow- 
ing— I  quote  from  the  Canal  Auditor's  report  of  the  State  of  New  York,  made 
to  the  Legislature  in  January,  1874  (that  being  the  report  of  1873),  page  84  : 
"  In  1853  all  the  canals  in  the  State  of  New  York  carried  4,247,853  tons,  while 
the  New  York  Central  and  Erie  Railways  carried  the  same  year  991,039  tons — 
not  quite  i  of  what  was  transported  by  the  canals.  In  1873,  twenty  years 
later  (page  35  same  report),  all  the  canalt  in  the  ,tSto<e  carried  6,364,782  tons,  and 
the  two  railroads  mentioned  carried  11,835,426  tons. 

This  shows  an  increase  by  the  canals  of  50  per  cent. ,  and  an  increase  on 


37 

the  roads  mentioned  of  1,200  per  cent.  By  the  Canal  Auditor's  Mnanciod 
Report  of  the  State  Canals  for  1874,  page  24, 1  find  that  the  total  disbursements 
on  all  the  canals,  in  excess  of  all  income,  was,  during  the  fiscal  year  ending  Sept. 
30th,  1873,  176,023-1*0%  dollars.  Notwithstanding  the  Erie  Canal  had  the 
priority  in  date,  that  the  current  of  commerce  was  already  flowing  in  that 
channel  when  railways  were  invented,  and  that  although  transportation  by 
rail  has  been  hampered  and  retarded  by  the  numberless  defects  and  abuses  of 
our  railway  system,  yet,  as  you  see,  it  has  steadily  gained  on  the  canals. 

Beside  that  canal  there  was  built  one  single  track  of  illy-constructed  road. 
Then  two  tracks  were  laid;  and  now  we  see  four  tracks  stretching  along  that 
canal  from  Alban}"^  to  Buffalo,  where,  before  any  track  was  built,  the  wiseacres 
and  croakers  of  those  days  met  the  projectors  of  the  railroad  with  the  asser- 
tion, "  You  cannot  earn  your  salt  on  a  railroad  along  that  Erie  Canal."  But 
the  four  tracks  of  to-day  give  back  an  answer  full  of  sarcasm.  To-day 
railway  construction  and  management  is  in  its  infancj'^.  With  four  track 
roads,  constructed  on  the  most  economical  gauge — two  tracks  for  passengers 
and  two  for  freight — built  for  cash,  and  honestly  constructed  and  managed; 
with  facilities  for  a  constant  stream  of  freight  going  and  coming  each  way, 
it  is  scarcely  to  be  computed  how  cheaply  freight  could  be  carried.  But  there 
are  some  people  of  the  present  time  who  say  there  is  nothing  equal  to  the 
canals  and  rivers  for  cheapness.  Here  again  we  have  other  facts  from  the 
Canal  Auditor's  report  before  quoted,  page  14  :  "  The  railroads  in  mmpetiton 
with  the  canals  liave  proped  /'>  be  fully  adequate  t^  compete  for  and  carry  off  much 
of  tJie  trade,  and  their  already  great  and  constantly  increasing  facilities  will 
operate  still  further  to  postpone  the  necessity  for  enlarging  the  canals.^'  Again, 
in  the  years  before  railways  were  constructed  across  the  States  of  Missouri  and 
Iowa,  the  Missouri  River  trade  from  St.  Louis  up  that  river  and  return  was 
such  as  to  employ  a  whole  fleet  of  boats.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  as  soon  as 
railways  are  completed  so  as  to  come  in  competition  with  that  river,  the 
steamboat  trade  began  falling  off",  until  now  they  have  but  a  few  boats  to  do 
what  then  required  a  large  fleet. 

Surely  Steam  and  Electricity,  the  Iron  Horse  and  his  Master,  have  worked  a 
revolution  in  Commerce,  anniliilated  time  and  distance,  and  are  even  now,  as  it 
were,  just  starting  out  upon  an  unknown  career  of  usefulness,  if  correctly 
handled  and  curbed  b}'  the  people.  How  vastly  important  then  to  the  people 
and  country  that  there  should  be  a  Special  Bureau  of  Transportation  and  Com- 
merce, national  in  its  character,  and  composed  of  a  representative  or  represent- 
atives of  every  State  in  the  Union,  selected  by  the  States,  to  whose  management 
and  supervision  shall  be  referred  all  railroad,  lake,  river,  canal,  and  ocean 
transportation,  whose  duty  shall  be  to  protect  the  people  and  honest  stock- 
holders from  the  corrupt  management  of  unscrupulous  men,  and  to  collect  and 
compile  all  valuable  statistics  relative  to  Transportation  and  Commerce. 

Tlie  commercial  transactions  of  this  country  ( embracing,  as  tliey  do, 
thousands  of  millions  of  dollars  yearly,  and  so  dependant  for  success  or  failure 
upon  the  cost  of  transportation,)  are  of  too  much  moment  to  be  left  to  drift,  ag 
they  have  heretofore  done,  subject  to  violent  changes  by  the  caprice  of  some 
board  of  railway  managers.  It  is  a  standing  disgrace  to  the  nation.  The 
present  Congress,  which  will  convene  next  week,  cannot  better  inaugurate 
their  session,  or  do  a  better  or  more  urgently  needed  act  than  to  pass  a  law 


38 

for'the  immediate  formation  of  such  a  Bureau  of  Transportation  and  Com- 
merce, and  I  earnestly  hope  this  Convention  will  not  adjourn  until  it  has 
drafted  a  bill  to  be  presented  to  Congress  for  this  very  purpose. 

Thanking  you  for  your  polite  attention,  permit  me,  in  closing,  to  extend 
to  our  brothers  of  the  South  the  right  hand  of  fellowship,  to  assure  them  that 
we  entertain  for  them  the  kindliest  of  feelhigs,  that  we  hope  to  aid  in  their 
future  prosperity,  and  that,  while  during  the  war  they  proved  the  bravest  of 
foes,  we  now  hope  to  prove  that  we  are  the  truest  of  friends.     [Applause.] 

The  report  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Reports. 

The  Treasurer's  Report  being  in  order,  it  was  duly  submitted,  showing  a 
deficiency  of  about  two  hundred  dollars. 

Un  motion  of  Mr.  Henry,  the  remarks  of  Mr.  Thurber,  which  were  inter- 
rupted at  the  close  of  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Railway  Transportation, 
were  called  for. 

Mr.  Thukber  said  he  felt  a  delicacy  in  occupying  the  time  of  the  Conven- 
tion with  any  extended  remarks,  but  would  read  them  a  sort  of  prophecy,  a 
poem  written  in  1848  by  Geo.  W.  Cutter,  entitled  : 


THE  SONG  OF  STEAM. 


Harness  me  down  with  your  iron  bands  ; 

Be  sure  of  your  curb  and  rein  : 
For  I  scorn  the  power  of  your  puny  hands, 

As  the  tempest  scorns  a  chain! 
How  I  laughed,  as  I  lay  concealed  from  sight. 

For  many  a  countless  hour. 
At  the  childish  boast  of  human  might, 

And  the  pride  of  'human  power! 

When  I  saw  an  army  upon  the  land, 

A  navy  upon  the  seas, 
Creeping  along,  a  snail-like  band,    , 

Or  waiting  the  wayward  breeze ; 
When  I  mark'd  the  peasant  fairly  reel 

With  the  toil  which  he  faintly  bore. 
As  he  feebly  turn'd  the  tardy  wheel, 

Or  tugg'd  at  the  weary  oar  . 


When  I  measured  the  panting  courser's  speed. 

The  flight  of  the  courier  dove, 
As  they  bore  the  law  a  king  decreed, 

Or  the  lines  of  impatient  love — 


3^ 


I  could  not  but  think  Jiow  the  world  would  feel, 

As  these  were  outstripp'd  afar, 
When  I  should  be  bound  to  the  rushing  keel. 

Or  chain'd  to  the  flying  car! 

Ha,  ha,  ha!  they  found  me  at  last; 

They  invited  me  forth  at  length, 
And  I  rushed  to  my  throne  with  a  thunder-blast, 

And  laugh'd  in  my  iron  strength! 
Oh!  then  ye  saw  a  wondrous  change 

On  the  earth  and  ocean  wide. 
Where  now  my  fiery  armies  range. 

Nor  wait  for  wind  and  tide. 

Hurrah !  hurrah !  the  water's  o'er, 

The  mountain's  steep  decline  ; 
Time — space — have  yielded  to  my  power  ; 

The  world — the  world  is  mine! 
The  rivers  the  sun  hath  earliest  blest, 

Or  those  where  his  beams  decline  ; 
The  giant  streams  of  the  queenly  West, 

And  the  Orient  floods  divine.  * 

The  ocean  pales  where'er  I  sweep. 

To  hear  my  sti^ength  rejoice, 
And  the  monsters  of  the  briny  deep 

Cower,  trembling,  at  my  voice. 
I  carry  the  wealth  and  the  lord  of  earth,    . 

The  thoughts  of  his  godlike  mind  ; 
The  wind  lags  after  niy  flying  forth. 

The  lightning  is  left  behind. 

In  the  darksome  depths  of  the  fathomless  mine 

My  tireless  arm  doth  play, 
Where  the  rocks  never  saw  the  sun's  decline. 

Or  the  dawn  of  the  glorious  day. 
I  bring  earth's  glittering  jewels  up 

From  the  hidden  cave  below. 
And  I  make  the  fountain's  granite  cup 

With  a  crystal  gush  o'erflow. 

I  blow  the  bellows,  I  forge  the  steel, 

In  all  the  shops  of  trade  ; 
I  hammer  the  ore  and  turn  the  wheel 

Where  my  arms  of  strength  are  made. 
I  manage  the  furnace,  the  mill,, the  mint — 

I  carry,  I  spin,  I  weave  ; 
And  all  my  doings  I  put  into  print 

On  every  Saturday  eve. 


40 


I've  no  muscles  to  weary,  no  breast  to  decay, 

No  bones  to  be  "  laid  on  the  shelf," 
And  soon  I  intend  you  may  "  go  and  play," 

While  I  manage  this  world  myself. 
But  harness  me  down  with  your  iron  bands, 

Be  sure  of  your  curb  and  rein  : 
'     For  I  scorn  the  strength  of  your  puny  hands, 

As  the  tempest  scorns  a  chain  ! 

On  motion  adjourned  until  10  A.  M.  to-morrow. 


Wednesday,  10  A.  M.,  Dec.  3,  1874. 
Mr.  QuiNCY  in  the  Chair. 

The  President  :  The  first  business  before  the  Convention  to-day  will 
be  to  listen  to  a  report  on  Artificial  Water  Routes. 
Col.  Frobel  submitted  the  following: 

REPORT  OF  COMMITTEE  ON  ARTIFICIAL  WATER  WORKS. 
B.  W.  Frobel,  Chairman. 

At  a  meeting  of  this  Convention,  held  in  Washington  City  on  the  14th 
day  of  Januarj'^  last,  a  resolution  was  adopted  urging  upon  Congress  the 
necessity  of  prompt  action  upon  the  important  matter  of  transportation,  and 
recommending  the  opening  of  four  great  water  lines  from  the  interior  to  the 
seaboard  by  a  northei*u  route,  connecting  the  Mississippi  River  with  the  great 
lakes  ;  a  central  route  between  the  Ohio  and  the  Chesapeake  ;  a  southern 
route  uniting  the  Tennessee  and  Ocmulgee,  and  the  improvement  of  and  open- 
ing the  Mississippi.  These  resolutions  were  laid  before  Congress,  and  your 
Committee  are  happy  in  announcing  the  fact  that  the  Committee  on  Trans- 
portation Routes  of  the  United  States  Senate  has,  after  a  careful  examination 
of  the  whole  subject,  unanimously  recommended  Ihe  building  of  the  four 
great  lines  indicated  therein.  The  report  of  the  Senate's  Committee  is  full 
and  perfect  upon  this  question  of  transportation,  and  earnestly  recommends 
its  careful  perusal  by  every  one  intrusted  in  the  future  development  of  our 
country.  The  closing  paragraphs  cover  so  full}^  the  whole  ground  under  con- 
sideration that  your  Committee  begs  leave  to  lay  them  before  you  as  embody- 
ing their  own  views  upon  this  question. 

The  Senate's  Committee  says  : 

' '  In  view  of  the  benefits  and  advantages  to  be  derived  from  each  of  the 
four  proposed  routes,  and  from  their  combined  influence  when  in  constant 
competition  with  each  other,  and  with  the  railroad  system  of  the  country,  it 
is,  in  the  judgment  of  your  Committee,  entirely  safe  to  say  that  the  com- 
petition of  the  system  of  improvements  suggested  will  effect  a  permanent 
reduction  of  50  per  cent,  in  the  cost  of  transporting  fourth-class  freights  from 
the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  seaboard,  and  that  the  cost  of  carrying  a 
bushel  of  wheat  or  corn  to  the  markets  of  the  East,  and  of  the  world,  will  be 


41 

reduced  at  least  20  to  25  cents  per  bushel  below  the  present  railway  charges, 
and  that  a  similar  reduction  will  be  expected  on  return  freights. 

The  actual  movement  of  grain  to  the  Eastern  and  Southern  markets  in 
1872,  as  is.  shown  by  the  carefully  prepared  statistics  submitted  with  report, 
amounted  to  about  213,000,000  bushels.  An  average  saving  of  twentj^  cents 
per  bushel  on  the  surplus  moved  that  year  would  have  amounted  to  over 
$42,000,000,  or  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  entire  expenditure  necessary  to 
complete  the  proposed  routes,  in  addition  to  the  loan  of  Government  credit  as 
before  stated.  But  for  the  fact  that  large  quantities  of  corn  were  unable  to 
find  a  market,  on  account  of  the  high  transportation  charges,  the  amount 
moved  would  have  been  very  much  greater.  Hence,  in  addition  to  the  saving 
in  transportation  above  named,  a  benefit  perhaps  equally  great  would  have 
been  conferred  upon  the  producer  in  affording  him  a  market  for  his  surplus 
products. 

To  this  must  be  added  the  enhanced  value  which  such  production  would 
give  to  the  improved  lands  of  the  West,  amounting,  in  the  eight  North-Western 
States  of  Indiana,  Illinois,  Iowa,  Minnesota,  Wisconsin,  Missouri,  Kansas  and 
Nebraska,  in  1870,  to  55,841,000  acres.  Estimating  the  productive  capacity  of 
these  lands  at  an  average  of  only  twenty  bushels  per  acre  (the  average  of  corn, 
oats,  etc.,  being,  in  fact,  very  much  greater),  an  addition  of  only  ten  cents  per 
bushel  (one-half  the  estimated  saving),  to  the  value  of  the  cereals  those  States 
are  capable  of  producing,  would  give  a  net  profit  of  $2  per  acre,  which  is  the 
equivalent  of  ten  per  cent,  interest  on  a  capital  of  $20,  and  hence  equal  to  an 
increase  in  the  value  of  lands  to  that  extent.  Twenty  dollars  per  acre,  added 
to  the  value  of  improved  lands  in  those  States,  would  exceed  an  aggregate  of 
$1,100,000,000.  This  calculation  assumes  that  one-half  of  the  reduction 
will  inure  to  the  benefit  of  the  consumer  and  the  other  half  to  the  producer. 

Add  to  all  this  the  increased  value  of  farms  in  other  States,  the  increased 
value  of  unimproved  lands,  the  enhanced  value  of  cotton- plantations,  the 
benefits  to  accrue  from  reduced  cost  of  movement  of  the  products  of  the 
mine,  the  foundry,  the  factory,  the  workshops,  and  of  the  thousands  of  other 
commodities  demanding  cheaper  transportation,  and  some  conception  may  be 
formed  of  the  vast  additions  to  be  made  to  our  national  wealth  and  prosperity 
Dy  the  system  of  improvements  under  consideration.  In  comparison  with 
the  great  benefits  reasonably  to  be  anticipated,  their  cost  is  utterly  insignifi- 
cant. 

The  probable  effect  of  such  reduction  in  the  cost  of  internal  transportation 
upon  our  exports  and  foreign  balances  of  trade  is  also  worthy  of  the  most 
careful  consideration.  America  and  Russia  are  the  great  food-producing  na- 
tions of  the  world.  Great  Britain  is  the  principal  market.  For  many  years 
America  and  Russia  have  been  active  competitors  for  the  supplj'  of  that  mar- 
ket. Until  recently  the  farmers  of  the  West  have  had  the  advantage  of  the 
wheat-producei-s  on  the  Don  and  the  Volga  ;  but,  a  few  years  ago,  Russia  inau- 
gurated a  system  of  internal  improvements  b}'  which  the  cost  of  transporting 
her  products  from  the  interior  to  the  seaboard  is  greatly  reduced.  The  result 
is  shown  by  the  importations  of  wheat  into  the  United  Kingdom  during  two 
periods  of  five  years  each. 

From  1860  to  1864,  inclusive,  there  was  received  from  Russia  47,367,809 
bushels;  from  the  United  States,  127,047,126  bushels. 


42 

From  1868  to  1872,  inclusi  \'  j  ,  t  li .  rec-  ijipts  from  Russia  was  117, 967, 022  bushels ; 
from  the  United  States,  116,462,380  bushels.  An  increase  during  the  latter 
period  as  compared  vvitli  tlie  former  of  70,590,213  bushels  from  Russia,  and 
a  decrease  of  10,584,746  from  the  United  States. 

The  clieaper  mode  of  handling  grain  by  elevators  has  not  yet  been-  adopted 
by  Russia,  but  doubtless  will  be  very  soon.  When  this  shall  be  done,  and 
her  wise  system  of  internal  improvements,  which  have  already  turned  the 
wavering  balances  in  her  favor,  shall  be  completed,  she  will  be  able  to  drive 
us  from  the  markets  of  the  world,  unless  wiser  counsels  shall  guide  our  states- 
manship than  have  hitherto  prevailed.  In  fact,  as  the  increased  size  of  ocean 
vessels  is  constantly  decreasing  the  cost  of  ocean  transport,  and  our  wheat 
fields  are  yearly  receding  farther  westward  from  the  lakes,  it  is  not  impossible 
that  when  she  shall  have  driven  us  from  the  markets  of  Europe  she  will  be- 
come our  active  competitors  in  Boston  and  Portland,  if  cheaper^means  of  in- 
ternal transport  be  not  provided. 

A  condition  of  things  equally  unsatisfactory  exists  with  regard  to  our 
chief  article  of  export,  cotton.  High  transportation  charges  from  the  grain- 
fields  of  the  North-West  to  the  cotton-fields  of  the  South,  have  compelled  the 
planter  to  devote  his  cotton  lands  to  the  production  of  wheat  and  corn,  for 
which  they  are  by  nature  unsuited,  thereby  reducing  the  product  of  cotton  and 
diminishing  the  market  of  gi*ain. 

The  effect  upon  our  cotton  exportations  is  shown  by  the  following  state- 
ment: 

la  1860,  Great  Britian  received  from  the  United  States  1,115,890,608 
pounds  of  cotton;  from  all  other  countries,  275,048,144  pounds. 

In  1872,  there  was  received  from  the  United  States  625,600,080  pounds,  and 
from. all  other  countries  783,237,392. 

Our  cotton  exports  have  fallen  off  nearly  50  per  cent.,  while  other  coun- 
tries have  gained  nearly  300  per  cent.  This  is  doubtless  largely  due  to  the 
'  war,  which  stimulated  the  production  of  cotton  in  India;  but  it  is  also  attribu- 
table, to  a  great  extent,  to  the  causes  above  mentioned,  and  to  the  system  of 
internal  improvements  inaugurated  by  Great  Britian  in  India  for  the  express 
purpose  of  rendering  herself  independent  of  us  for  the  supply  of  cotton. 
Every  cent  unnecessarily  added  to  the  cost  of  transportation  is,  to  that  extent, 
a  protection  to  the  cotton  planters  of  India  and  food  producers  of  Russia, 
against  the  f  ai'mers  of  the  West  and  the  cotton  planters  of  the  South. 

The  cry  of  despair  which  comes  from  the  over-burdened  West,  the  de- 
mand for  cheaper  food  heard  from  the  laboring  classes  of  the  East  and  from 
the  plantations  of  the  Soutli,  and  the  I'apid  falling  off  of  our  principal  articles 
of  exports,  all  indicate  the  imperative  necessity  for  clieaper  means  of  internal 
communication.  If  we  would  assure  our  imperiled  position  in  the  markets  of 
the  world,  reinstate  our  credit  abroad,  restore  confidence  and  prosperity  at 
home,  and  provide  for  a  return  to  specie  payment,  let  us  develop  our  un- 
equaled  resources  and  stimulate  our  industries  by  a  judicious  system  of  inter- 
nal improvements.  A  reference  to  the  expenditures  of  our  Government  since 
the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  will  show  that,  in  some  matters,  we  have 
been  sufficiently  liberal,  but  in  appropriations  for  the  benefit  of  commerce, 
and  for  the  development  of  our  vast  resources,  most  parsimonious.  For  pub- 
lic buildings,  including  those  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  custom-houses, 


post-offices  and  court-houses  in  other  ,>  \  ■;  -•  of  the  country  ,we  have  expended  over 
$62,000,000.while  for  theMmprovonu-tit  of  ^O.OOO  miles  of  Wostorn  rivers, through 
which  should  flow  the  life-currents  of  the  nation,  we  have  appropriated  only 
fll, 438,300.  For  the  improvement  of  these  great  avenues  of  trade,  which 
were  designed  by  nature  to  afford  the  cheapest  and  most  ample  commercial 
facilities  for  the  teeming  millions  who  inhabit  the  richest  country  on  the  earth, 
we  have  expended  an  average  of  $133,100  per  annum,  while  for  public  build- 
ings we  have  appropriated  an  average  of  over  $750,000  a  year.  Is  it  not  high 
time  that  all  expenditures  not  absolutely  necessary  be  suspended,  and  that  the 
imperative  nece.ssities  of  the  country  receive  attention? 

England,  in  order  to  encourage  and  stimulate  the  culture  of  cotton  in 
India  for  the  supply  of  her  factories  at  home,  guaranteed  interest  on  an  ex- 
penditure for  internal  improvements  in  that  distant  country  amounting  to  over 
$400,000,000.  The  most  advanced  nations  of  ancient  and  modern  times  have 
regarded  their  highways  of  commerce  of  the  first  importance,  and  in  exact 
proportion  to  the  excellence  of  those  highways  have  been  the  development  of 
national  resources  and  power  and  the  augmentation  of  national  wealth. 

It  may  be  said  that  in  the  present  financial  condition  of  the  country,  and 
with  our  heavy  burden  of  indebtedness,  we  cannot  afford  to  enter  upon  the 
system  of  improvements  indicated.  W  is  true  our  debt  is  large,  but  our  re- 
sources are  immediate,  and  need  only  a  Uberal  and  wise  statesmanship  to  insure 
their  full  development. 

As  we  have  already  stated,  the  public  debt  of  a  nation  is  great  or  small 
according  to  the  proportion  it  bears  to  the  public  wealth,  and  to  the  com- 
mercial prosperity  of  the  people  who  have  it  to  pay.  A  debt  that  would  have 
crushed  the  United  States  in  1800  would  scarcely  be  felt  to-day.  In  the 
exact  projwrtion  that  bur  wealth  increases ^the  burden  of  our  debt  diminishes. 
For  instance,  in  1840  tlie  entire  national  wealth  was  estimated  at  $3,764,000. 
At  the  close  of  the  rebellion  our  national  indebtedness  had  reached  $3,300,000. 
Hence,  to  have  paid  the  debt  ot  1865  in  the  year  1840  would  have  required  90 
per  cent,  of  all  the  property  in  the  country.  On  the  1st  of  March,  1874,  our 
debt  was  $2,154,880,066.  Our  national  wealth  is  estimated  at  over  $30,000,000,- 
000;  while,  therefore,  the  debt  of  1865  would  have  consumed  almost  the  entire 
property,  public  and  private,  owned  in  the  United  States  in  1840,  the  payment 
of  our  present  debt  would  require  onlj^  about  7  per  cent,  of  our  present  wealth. 
It  is  therefore  apparent  that  the  burden  of  the  debt  of  1874  is  less  than  one- 
twelfth  as  great  on  our  present  property  as  the  debt  of  1865  would  have  been 
in  1840.  If,  by  the  development  of  our  resources,  we  can  maintain  the  same 
ratio  of  increase  during  the  next  twentj'-five  years  that  we  have  since  1850,  the 
debt  of  the  nation  (if  no  further  payments  be  made)  will  amount  to  onl}"  1 
per  cent,  on  the  nationaj  wealth  in  1900.  In  other  words,  with  the  full  de- 
velopment of  our  resources,  which  it  is  in  the  power  of  a  wise  statesmanship 
to  induce,  the  entire  debt  can  be  paid  in  1900  by  the  assessment  of  a  tax  but 
little  greater  than  is  now  requu-ed  to  meet  the  current  expenditures  of  the 
Government.  If  it  be  true,  then,  that  the  burtlen  of  a  nation's  debt  diminishes 
in  exactly  the  same  ratio  that  its  wealth  increases,  is  it  not  the  dictate  of  wis- 
dom and  of  sound  policy  to  pay  only  so  much  of  our  debt  as  may  be  necessary 
to  keep  our  faith  and  maintain  our  credit,  and  to  devote  whatever  .surplus 
revenue«  may  remain  to  such  improvements  as  are  required  for  the  full  de- 
velopment of  our  unequaled  resources  ? 


44 

Referred  to  Committee  on  Reports. 

Mr.  SouTHALL  presented  a  paper  as  a  substitute  for  tlie  report  just  read  by 
Mr.  Frobel.* 

After  some  preliminary  remarks  with  reference  to  the  importance  of  the 
subject,  and  to  the  necessity  of  gathering  and  looking  at  all  the  facts,  Mr. 
Southall  said  that  in  the  report,  which  was  the  result  of  a  year's  labor  on  the 
part  of  a  committee  composed  of  the  ablest  men  in  the  land  and  commissioned 
by  the  highest  authority  in  the  Government,  the  champions  of  cheap  trans- 
portation had  now  before  them  the  materials  for  arriving  at  an  intelligent  de- 
cision on  the  question.  The  primary  point  to  be  settled  in  the  premises  was 
the  comparative  economy  of  transportation  by  rail  and  by  water.  He  himself 
had  no  doubt  that  water  transportation  was  much  the  cheaper,  but  as  there 
were  yet  those  who  contended  that  transportation  by  rail  was  the  more  economi- 
cal, he  would  examine  the  facts,  which  would  speedily  settle  the  question. 
The  Erie  Railway  and  the  steamers  from  New  York  to  Boston  have  an  arrange 
ment  by  which  the  rates  on  freight  between  Buffalo  and  Boston  are  divided, 
the  railroad  company  getting  for  each  mile  of  raih'oad  three  times  as  much  as 
the  steamers  receive  for  a  mile  on  the  water.  Mr.  McAlpiu,  in  his  address  • 
before  the  New  York  Chamber  of  Commerce,  May  8,  1873,  informs  us  that  on 
the  Hudson  River  the  charges  for  transportation  by  water  are  one  fourth  of 
those  by  the  Hudson  River  Railroad  Company  in  Summer,  and  one-sixth  of 
the  Winter  rates  of  the  railroad  when  there  is  no  water  communication.  The 
charges  for  railway  transportation  by  the  railway  from  New  York  to  the 
Pacific  are  thirty  times  the  charges  by  sailing  vessels,  and  fifteen  times  as  great 
as  the  cost  by  steamer  via  Panama.  From  Louisville  to  New  Orleans  (1,400 
miles)  the  average  rate  through  the  year  for  freight  is  $5  per  ton  by  water  and 
$10  by  rail. 

The  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company  may  be  presumed  to  appreciate  the 
merits  and  capacities  of  railroads,  and  (owing  mainly  to  the  low  price  paid 
for  coal)  it  transports  freights  at  a  lower  rate  than  any  other  railroad  in  the 
United  States.  And  yet  this  Company  has  purchased  or  leased  over  400  miles 
of  canal,  and  since  it  got  possession  of  them  has  proceeded  to  extend  and  im- 
prove them.  Then,  after  giving  other  similar  examples,  and  leaving  this 
question  of  the  comparative  economy  of  land  and  water  transportation,  Mr. 
Southall  proceeded  to  compare  the  f leight  movements  on  the  Erie  Canal  and  the 
Erie  and  New  York  Central  Railroads.  "  This  comparison  will  show,"  he 
said,  "  that  the  freights  transported  over  the  railroads  have  increased  much 
faster  than  the  freights  transported  over  the  canal.  The  New  York  Central 
tonnage  increased  from  943,215  tons  in  1856  to  5,564,274  tons  in  1872,  while 
the  tonnage  on  the  Erie  Canal  increased  during  the  same  period  from  2,107.678 
tons  to  3,562,560  tons.  In  this,  we  are  told,  is  perceived  the  superiority  of  the 
railroads  to  the  canals;  and  right  here  the  case  looks  stronger  for  the  advo- 
cates of  railroad  transportation  than  anywhere  else.  A  little  scrutiny,  into  the 
facts  and  the  conditions  affords,  however,  an  easy  explanation  of  the  sharp 
rivalry  between  rail  and  water  at  this  point.     Right  at  the  outset  we  find 


*The  Secretary  did  not  receive  Mr.  Southall's  report,  but  wrote  for  it,  and  the  letter  was 
returned  unopened:  and  in  consequence  was  obliged  to  inseit  a  report  of  the  same  as  it  ap- 
peared in  the  N.  Y.  Thiies.—Vi.  H.  F. 


45 

a  partial  explanation  in  one  very  material  fuct,  and  this  is,  that  the 
rates  of  transportation  on  the  Erie  Canal  are  very  high  ;  that  is,  they  aver- 
aged, in  1872,  $3.70  per  ton,  or  more  than  11  mills  per  ton  per  mile.  It  is  not 
very  difficult  for  such  a  road  as  the  Erie,  or  the  New  York  Central,  to  compete 
with  this.  Nearly  one-third  of  the  charge  on  the  Erie  Canal  is  lor  tolls,  which 
go  to  the  State.  This  magnificent  work,  at  the  close  of  the  fiscal  year  for  1866, 
had  paid  to  the  State  of  New  York  (including  interest),  tlie  enormous  sum  of 
$181,828,604,  or  $41,397,651  over  and  above  the  total  exiJcnditures  for  con- 
struction, maintenance  and  repairs  (including  interest).  Another  material  fact 
going  to  explain  the  greater  relative  increase  of  business  on  the  railroads  is, 
that  since  1856,  the  railways  referred  to  have  increased  very  much  tlie  length 
of  their  lines,  the  New  York  Central  for  example,  now  including  the  Hudson 
River  Road  (150  miles) ;  while  the  Erie  Road,  from  1861  to  1873,  added  395 
miles  of  branch  road  to  the  main  trunk.  These  facts  alone  are  sufficient  to 
account  for  a  vast  portion  of  the  increase  of  freight  on  these  routes.  I  have 
only  the  figures  from  1861  to  1873  for  Ihc  Erie,  but  in  these  twelve  years  the 
road  and  its  branches  increased  in  length  from  559  to  954  miles.  Of  course  its 
business  increased." 

Other  reasons  given  by  the  speaker  for  this  increase  of  railroad  traffic  were 
the  immense  improvement  in  railway  apparatus  and  administration;  the  fact 
that  the  roads  are  at  work  while  the  canals  are  blocked  by  ice;  and  the  move- 
ment of  the  center  of  the  grain  production  far  west  of  the  lakes,  where  this 
class  of  freight  can  be  reached  by  the  railroads,  but  where  ruinouslj^  high  local 
rates  prevent  its  passage  to  the  lake  ports,  and  hence  also  prevent  its  transpor- 
tation by  canals  from  those  points.  The  speaker  next  discussed  how  the  Erie 
Canal  might  be  so  improved  as  to  increa.se  its  capacity,  decrease  the  expense 
of  transportation,  and  improve  the  regularity  and  speed  of  freight  delivery. 
He  was  of  opinion  that  if  the  canal  were  so  enlarged  as  to  admit  of  the  use  of 
boats  carrying  600  tons,  ami  if  steam  were  introduced,  as  to  the  practicability  of 
which  recent  experiments  left  no  doubt,  freight  could  be  transported  from 
New  York  to  Chicago  at  $3  per  ton,  and  within  ten  or  eleven  days.  The  sub- 
stitution of  steam  for  horse  power  would  alone  increase  the  capacity  of  the 
canal  to  12,000,000j  tons  per  season  of  210  days;  and  if  the  locks  were  in- 
creased to  twenty-five  feet  in  width,  there  would  be  a  further  increase  of 
24,000,000  tons.  He  submitted  that  this  demonstrated  the  ability  of  water 
transportation  to  meet  the  requirements  of  internal  commerce. 

ANOTHER  BID  FOR  NEW  YORK  EXrORT  TR.\DE. 

Mr.  SouTHALii  continued  : 

"  I  invite  your  attention  now  to  another  great  water  line  recommended  by 
the  Committee.  The  Central  Water  Line  traverses  the  heart  of  the  Union  and 
connects  the  watei-s  of  the  Kanawha  and  the  Ohesapeake.  It  reaches,  in- 
to Mississippi,  for  it  embraces  1,500  miles  of  river  navigation  up 
the  Missouri.  As  the  Erie  Canal  gave  a  mouth  to  the  Lakes,  so  the  James 
River  and  Kanawha  Canal  offers  an  Eastern  outlet  to  tlie  great  and  growing 
commerce  of  the  Ohio  River,  as  well  as  to  that  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  Mis- 
souri. The  abundant  waters  of  the  James  traveree  the  State  of  Virginia,  while 
the  New  River  and  the  Kanawha,  running  in  an  opposite  direction,  mingle 
their  waves  with  those  of  the  Ohio.     It  is  only  necessary  to  unite  the  upper 


46 

wateis  of  these  streams,  which  are  divided  by.  the  AUeghanies,  to  have  a  con- 
tinuous water  line  from  Hampton  Roads  to  St.  Louis  and  Yankton  and  St. 
Paul.  The  value  of  the  total  commerce  of  the  Ohio  River  for  1872  was 
$710,000,000 — greater  than  the  total  foreign  imports  of  the  United  States  for 
1872-78.  From  the  cities  on  the  Ohio,  from  many  important  points  on  the 
]\Iississippi,  from  all  points  on  the  Missouri,  the  distances  on  this  line  are  less 
thun  by  any  other  route  to  the  seaboard. 

TIjc  ilistauce  is  several  hundred  miles  less  by  water  from  Cairo  to  the 
capes  of  Virginia  than  it  is  from  Cairo  to  New  York;  220  miles  less  from 
Li)uisville  or  Cincinnati  to  the  capes  than  from  Louisville  or  Cincinnati  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Hudson;  nearly  500  miles  less  from  St.  Louis  by  the  first  route 
than  by  the  second;  nearly  400  miles  less  from  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois;  100 
less  from  Keoknk;  175  less  from  Kansas  City.  The  construction  of  this  line 
contemplates  not  only  the  completion  of  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Canal, 
but  the  removal  of  the  bars  in  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi,  so  as  to  have  seven 
teet  of  water  all  the  year  through  from  Point  Pleasant  (at  the  mouth  of  the 
Kanawha)  to  St.  Louis.  With  a  full  head  of  water  a  ton  of  produce  can  be 
carried  on  the  Ohio  or  the  Mississippi  for  from  one  and  a  half  to  two  mills  per 
ton  per  mile;  but  in  the  Fall,  when  the  water  is  low,  in  consequence  of  the 
bars,  the  rate  is  eight  and  a  half  mills.  A  bushel  of  wheat,  which  it  costs  six 
cents  to  carry  fjom  St.  -Louis  to  New  Orleans  in  the  Spring,  costs 
from  thirty  to  thirty-five  cents  in  the  Fall.  Is  it  not  an  extraordinary 
spectacle  that  for  three  months  in  the  year  these  great  natural  watei'- 
ways  are  practically  dry?  Per  contra,  for  four  and  a  half  or  five  months  in 
the  year  the  Northern  water  routes  are  locked  with  ice.  What  we  especially 
need  is  a  water  line  between  the  Mississippi  and  the  seaboard  which  is  not 
closed  by  frost  in  Winter  nor  obstructed  by  sandbars  in  Summer  ;  we  want  a 
full  tide  of  oi)en  water  throughout  the  year  across  the  continent.  Fifteen 
millions  of  dollars  will  clear  the  channels  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  Ohio,  so  as 
to  afford  seven  feet  of  water  during  the  dryest  season,  and  the  construction  of 
the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Canal  will  afford  an  open  water-way  of  seven 
feet  depth  in  connection  with  the  Ohio  for  eleven  months  in  the  j^ear.  This  is 
the  great  advantage  which  the  central  water  line  has  over  the  route  by  the 
lakes  and  the  Erie  Canal  and  that  by  the  lakes  and  the  St.  Lawrence."  "  This 
route,"  observed  Mr.  Southall,  "would  be  closed  by  ice  only  thirty  days  in  the 
year,  and,  furthermore,  four  uf  the  largest  interior  cities  of  the  continent — St. 
Louis,  Cincinnati,  Louisville  and  Pittsburgh — are  situated  directly  upon  it. 
The  trade  of  these  cities,  together  with  the  other  towns  and  cities  on  the  Ohio 
River,  is  in  excess  of  our  entire  Ibreign  commerce.  A  vast  area  of  the  richest 
agricultural  and  mineral  country  in  the  world  is  directly  tributary  to  it,  and 
only  awaits  reasonable  facilities  for  transportation  to  develop  a  commerce  the 
magnitude  of  which  it  is  now  difficult  to  conceive." 

18  THE  CENTKAL  WATER  LINE  PRACTICABLE  ? 

The  speaker  then  proceeded  to  examine  the  practicability  of  the  proposed 
canal.  The  State  of  Virginia  commenced  surveys  so  long  ago  as  1817,  and  has 
since  continued  them  at  various  intervals  of  timfe,  at  a  cost  of  over  !jf)10,000,000, 
and  with  a  uniformly  favorable  result.     Several  investigations  have  also  been 


47 

made  by  the  National  Government,  all  of  which  were  favorable  as  to  the  prac- 
ticability and  importance  of  the  line.  The  estimated  cost  was  $50,000,000,  a 
tunnel  eight  miles  in  length  being  invplved.  In  view  of  the  expense,  and  the 
general  skepticism  as  to  a  tunnel  of  such  magnitude,  llie  friends  of  the  new 
route  asked  the  Secretary  of  War,  last  Winter,  for  the  appointment  of  a  Board 
of  Engineers  to  investigate  the  subject.  The  request  was  granted,  and  the 
Board  reported,  in  March  last,  that,  in  its  opinion,  "  it  was  entirely  practicable 
to  connect  the  James  and  the  Ohio  by  a  water  navigation  seven  feet  in  depth." 

THE  COMPARATIVE  MERITS  OF  LAND  AND  WATER  TRANSPORTATION. 

In  connection  with  this  proposed  route,  Mr.  Southall  returned  to  the  com- 
parison between  rail  and  water  transportation.  He  said  that  he  supposed  the 
tract  issued  by  the  Committee  of  the  New  York  Cheap  Transportation  Associa- 
tion might  be  taken  as  an  authoritative  exposition  of  the  views  of 
those  who  prefer  rail  to  water  carj'iage.  This  tract  made  the  four 
following  points :  First,  that  it  is  wrong  to  examine  the  subject 
with  reference  mainly  to  the  transportation  of  cereal  products,  as 
the  Congressional  Committee  seem  to  have  done  ;  second,  that  the  solution  of 
the  problem  of  cheap  transportation  would  probably  be  found  in  narrow- 
gauge  railroads  ;  third,  that  a  railroad  constructed  exclusively  for  the  freight 
business  would  transport  freight  much  more  economicall}^  by  quadrupling  the 
capacity  of  the  road  and  halving  tbe  time  of  transit;  and,  fourth,  that  the 
grain-growing  countries  are  situated  iu  a  section  of  country  where  ice  closes 
water-channels  for  a  large  portion  of  the  year.  These  four  points  he  examined 
in  their  order.  As  to  the  first  point,  he  eutirely  upheld  the  action  of  the 
Senate  Committee,  and  gave  a  convincing  array  of  figures  to  show  that  three- 
fourths  of  the  tonnage  of  the  country  comes  under  the  head  of  wheat,  corn, 
lumber,  coal,  iron,  stone,  and  such  like  coarse  and  heavy  products,  cheap  in 
proportion  to  their  bulk,  which  creates  the  necessity  for  cheap  transportation. 

The  second  and  tliird  points  are  that  the  present  railroads  of  the  country 
arc  no  test  of  the  real  transportation  ability  of  rail  as  compared  with  water; 
and  that  the  construction  of  exclusive  freight  railways,  with  the  narrow  gauge, 
Avill  present  very  difierent  results.  With  regard  to  narrow-gauge  railroads  it 
is  a  remarkable  fact,  if  thej"  cau  accomplish  whait  their  advocates  claim  for 
them,  that,  although  the  subject  has  been  agitated  in  Great  Britain  for  ten  or 
fifteen  years,  and  for  nearly  ten  years  in  this  country,  the  builders  of  railroads 
do  not  build  them;  and  none  of  the  projects  now  before  the  countr}-,  so  far 
as  1  am  aware,  for  a  great  trans-contineutal  freight  railwaj'^  has  in  view  the 
adoption  of  a  three-foot  gauge.  In  addition  to  that,  the  Senate  Committee  on 
Transportation,  who  devoted  nearlj^  a  whole  year  to  the  subject;  who  examined 
all  the  railway  experts  and  transportation  agents  iu  our  large  cities;  who  have 
considered  at.  great  length  the  projects  for  double  or  quadruple  track  rail- 
ways, constructed  exclusively  for  freight;  who  even  speak  approvingly  of  the 
idea  of  such  a  Government  freight  railway;  nevertLieless, in  their  whole  report, 
fail  to  make  any  allusion  whatever  to  narrow-gauge  railways,  nor  is  the  subject 
touched  iu  the  one  thousand  pages  of  the  evidence  collected  by  them.  Now., 
under  these  circumstances,  while  there  may  be  great  value  in  the  narrow-gauge 
system,  it  would  be  premature  for  us  to  recommend  it  at  present.    I  think  it 


48 

probable  tliiit  for  feeder  roads  to  canals,  rivers  and  truuk  railways,  important 
results  may  be  attained  in  this  way.  I  should  seriously  doubt  whether  a  road 
of  only  three  feet  gauge  would  have  the  requisite  capacity  for  a  main  through 
line.  The  subject,  however,  is  one  which  is  not  yet  sulhciently  developed  to 
engage  the  attention  of  a  practical  body  seeking  practical  and  immediate  re- 
sults. The  adoption  of  such  a  gauge  would,  of  course,  involve  at  every  point 
of  contact  with  other  roads  a  transhipment  of  the  freight. 

As  to  the  double-track  freight  railway,  I  have  no  doubt  that  such  a  road 
would  reduce  the  present  rail  charges.  There  is  something,  however,  appar- 
ent Iv  a  little  visionary  in  the  idea  of  a  railroad  from  New  York  to  Council. 
Bhifl's  occupied  for  its  whole  distance  by  trains  in  motion  only  ten  or  fifteen 
minutes  apart.  That  is  the  project — 500  trains  of  thirty  cars  each,  moving 
Weston  one  track;  500  trains  of  thirty  cars  each,  moving  east  on  the  other  track 
— every  two  trains  separated  by  an  interval  of  fifteen  minutes.  This  may  be 
practical;  but  to  my  mind  it  appears  likely  that  there  would  be  some  deten- 
tion to  some  one  of  these  500  trains  every  few  days,  blocking  the  whole  line 
from  Council  Bluffs  to  New  York,  or,  say,  for  at  least  several  hundred  miles. 
The  road  is  to  cost  $225,000,-000,  and  is  to  have  36,000  employes,  and  is  to  be 
nin  by  the  Government,  and  is  to  have  no  grade  greater  than  thirty  feet  to  the 
mile  gcing  east,  with  maximum  curves  of  four  deg.  Three  thousand  cars 
would  depart  from  each  end  of  the  line,  and  3,000  would  arrive  at  each  end  of 
the  line  every  day;  1,000  trains  and  30,000  cars  would  be  in  ceaseless  motion 
on  the  road;  and,  to  insure  regularity  and  avoid  collisions,  all  of  the  trains 
on  each  track  "would  have  to  stop,"  in  the  words  of  an  engineer,  "to  wood 
and  water,  exactly  at  the  same  instant,  start  again  exactly  at  the  same  instant, 
and  move  at  exactly  the  same  speed.  In  other  words,  they  would  have  to 
move  with  the  precision  and  regularity  of  the  heavenly  bodies." 

There  were  269  casualties  in  the  year  1873,  on  the  New  York  and  Hudson 
liiver  Railroad,  involving  loss  of  life  or  serious  bodily  injury;  and  there  were 
160  on  the  Erie  Road.  These  roads  run  only  about  twenty-five  trains  a  day. 
It  is  to  be  presumed  that  these  numerous  casualties  occasion  detentions,  and 
it  is  to  be  presumed  that  many  accidents,  derangements  and  irregularities  oc- 
cur which  involve  no  casualties,  and  which  are,  therefore,  unrecorded.  I  can- 
not, therefore,  feel  entire  confidence  in  these  paper  calculations ;  at  the  .same 
time,  I  believe  there  is  a  large  margin  in  the  future  for  improvement  in  our 
rail  transportation  ;  the  present  rates  will  doubtless  be  materially  diminished. 
It  is  a  fair  and  honoral)le  rivalry  between  water  and  rail.  Let  us,  as  the  friends 
of  cheap  transportation,  foster  the  development  of  each  ;  it  will  be  realized  in 
the  end  that  the  one  supplements  the  other,  and  that  while  water  is  best  adapted 
to  the  moving  of  certain  classes  of  freights,  rail  is  best  adapted  to  the  delivery 
of  others. 

There  is  a  grave  objection  to  a  Governmental  railway,  to  which  I  have  not 
adverted,  and  which  ought  to  be  very  deliberately  considered  before  we  give 
our  countenance  to  any  such  project.  The  proposed  Continental  Railway  of 
Gen.  W.  C.  Kibbe  involves  the  appointment  and  control  by  the  Government 
of  30,000  railroad  employes.  A  second  Continental  railroad  would  involve  the 
appointment  and  control  of  36,000  more,  and  a  third  of  36,000  more.  It  is  to 
be  feared  that  this  vast  increase  of  the  already  enormous  patronage  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, in  correcting  the  present  transportation  rates  by  rail,  would  entangle 


49 

us  in  evils  of  far  greater  magnitude.  Nor  have  I  stated  the  full  case ;  we  are 
told  that,  "  to  cover  all  expenses,"  the  gross  revenues  of  this  road  must  be,  in  , 
round  figures,  $68,000,000.  Besides  adding  36,000  to  the  present  army  of  Gov- 
ernment employes,  the  President  of  tlie  United  States  would  have,  annually, 
the  collection  and  disbursement  from  this  one  road  alone,  apart  from  the  pres- 
ent receipts  and  disbursements  made  by  him,  of  $68,000,000.  If  there  should 
be  three  such  roads  the  sum  would  be  $204,000,000.  Can  we  believe  that  un- 
der a  democratic  government  (I  do  not  use  the  word  in  a  party  sense)  either 
honesty  or  ecenortiy  would  characterize  the  management  of  such  a  road  V 

The  canal,  when  completed,  will  not  have  more  than  750  officers  and  em- 
ployes of  all  kinds,  and  the  tolls  required  to  be  collected  to  keep  it  in  repair 
will  not  exceed  $750,000  or  $1,000,000. 

The  last  objection  specified  against  water-lines  by  the  paper  of  the  New 
York  Committee,  to  Avhich  I  have  referred,  is  that  the  grain-growing  sections 
are  situated  mostly  in  those  portions  of  the  country  which  are  closed  by 
ice  for  several  months  in  the  year.  The  central  water-line  from^t.  Louis  to 
Hampton  Roads  will  be  open  eleven  months  in  the  year  ;  below  St.  Louis  the 
Mississippi  will  be  open  pretty  much  all  the  year  ;  ab  ve  St.  Louis,  on  the 
Mississippi,  up  to  Davenport  and  Dubuque,  400  miles,  we  are  still  south  of  the 
lakes  and  the  Erie  Canal,  and  will  have  an  open  river  eight  weeks  longer  than 
the  canal  is  open  ;  besides  which  eighteen  railways  terminate  in  St.  Louis,  and 
the  crops  of  the  West  and  Northwest  have  the  advantage  of  these,  if  at  any 
time  the  water  channels  of  those  regions  are  closed. 

Having  answered  these  four  objections,  Mr.  Southall  next  made  an  elaborate 
calculation  as  to  the  propable  cost  of  moving  freight  on  the  new  route,  taking 
the  Erie  Canal  as  his  basis.  It  was  his  conclusion  that  wheat  could  be  trans- 
ported from  St.  Louis  to  Hampton  Roads,  on  the  Central  Water  Line,  at  a  cost 
of  twelve  or  thirteen  cents  per  bushel.  This  would  be  a  saving  of  thirty-six 
cents  on  the  existing  charges  on  a  bushel  of  wheat  from  the Misssissippi  to  the 
seaboard.  On  a  tonnage  of  10,000,000  the  annual  saving  would  amount  to 
$120,000,000.  A  saving  of  one-half  of  thirty-six  cents  on  each  bushel  of  a  ton- 
nage of  10,000,000  w^ould  amount  to  $60,000,000,  or  to  more  than  the  entire  cost 
of  the  canal.     Mr.  Southall  thus  concludes  : 

"  There  is  one  point  further  I  wish  to  allude  to  :  there  seems  to  be  some  jeal- 
ousy on  the  part  of  some  of  the  New  York  journals  agtinst  this  route  ;  perhaps 
I  am  mistaken.  There  ought  to  be  no  such  feeling.  For  my  own  part  I  ad- 
vocate the  improvement  of  all  the  natural  water-ways  of  the  country — the  Mis- 
sissippi as  well  as  the  James,  the  Tennessee  as  well  as  the  lakes  and  the  Hud- 
son. But  I  wish  to  remark  that  if,  peradventure,  such  a  feeling  does  exist,  it 
is  a  groundless  apprehension.  New  York  City  will  be  the  terminus  of  the  cen- 
tral water  line.  New  York  City  is  the  focus  to  which  the  grain  of  the  West 
gravitates.  The  great  cities  of  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore 
are  not  only  the  consumers,  but  the  exporters  of  the  surplus  grain  of  the  West. 

The  quantity  of  grain  retained  for  consumption  by  these  four  cities  in  1872 
amounted  to  91.826,000  bushels,  while  they  exported  60,000,000  bushels.  The 
tonnage  over  this  line,  therefore,  must  in  a  large  degree  seek  these  cities.  The 
steamer  from  the  western  terminus  of  the  canal  will  be  able  to  reach  New 
York,  if  desired,  without  breakage  of  bulk  or  transfeiTing  its  cargo  to  a  sea- 
going v«s8el  at  Hampton  Roads.    It  need  only  steam  up  th^  Chesapeake  ,as  th(j 


50 

boats  of  the  Albemarle  and  Chesapeake  Canal  do  now,  and  pass  through  the 
Delaware  and  Chesapeake  Canal,  thence  up  the  Delaware  River,  and  then  by 
the  Delaware  and  Raritan  Canal  to  New  Brunswick,  and  thence  to  New  York 
City.  Or,  as  I  have  intimated,  if  preferred,  the  cargo  could  be  transferred  at 
the  mouth  of  the  James,  *or  at  Richmond,,  to  sea-going  vessels. 

Mr.  David  Greene,  in  his  last  report,  tells  us  that,  after  the  close  of  navi- 
gation upon  the  Erie  Canal  in  1873,  the  steamer  William  Baxter  was  loaded  in 
New  York,  and  dispatched  to  Baltimore,  via  the  Delaware  and  Raritan  Canal, 
Delaware  RiA^er,  Chesapeake  and  Delaware  Canal,  and  Chespeake  Bay.  From 
Baltimore,  she  proceeded  to  Fredericksburg,  Va.,  and  returned  thence  to  Balti- 
more, where  she  was  lying  on  the  30th  of  December,  1873,  and  whence  her 
captain  addressed  to  Mr.  Baxter  the  following  letter: 

BA1.TIM0RE,  Dec.  30,  1873. 
William  Baxter,  Esq. : 

Dear  Sir  :  The  steam  propeller  William  Baxter  is  not  only  a  good  canal 
boat,  but  il  also  a  good  coasting  vessel.  -  We  arrived  here  from  Fredericks- 
burg on  Saturday  last  with  a  load  consisting  of  300  barrels  of  flour,  1,060  bags 
of  sumac  and  706  bundles  of  hoops.  We  came  up  the  bay  against  a  heavy 
northAvest  wind,  making  a  speed  of  about  five  miles  per  hour.  We  were 
caught  oft' Annapolis,  on  Friday,  in  the  same  storm  which  sunk  the  Virginius,< 
and,  notwithstanding  we  had  a  heavy  deck  load,  ahe  faced  the  storm  hand- 
somely. 

The  sea  ran  very  high,  and  schooners  and  large  tug-boats  were  dancing 
about  and  trying  all  they  could  to  get  into  some  harbor.  The  wind  blew  so 
hard  that  it  was  impossible  to  stand  on  deck  ;  but,  nevertheless,  we  kept  her 
straight  on  her  coui-se,  and  arrived  here  without  any  difiiculty.  A  heavy  sea 
did  not  strain  the  boat  in  the  least.  She  stood  through  the  storm  as  firm  as 
if  sailing  on  a  mill-pond. 

I  now  feel  that  she  is  a  perfectly  sea-worthy  boat,  and  capable  of  taking 
care  of  herself  in  the  Atlantic,  under  all  ordinary  circumstances. 

The  boat  is  the  favorite  here,  and  everybody  wants  to  keep  her  on  this 
route.  There  is  freight  enough  for  all  Winter,  and  we  can  have  all  the  work 
we  want.  Respectfully  yours, 

ft  James  A.  Baker, 

« 

Captain  steamer  Baxter. 

It  has  been  said  that  "  an  ounce  of  experience  is  worth  a  pound  of  theory.' 
The  steamers  on  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Canal  may  also,  when  they 
arrive  in  the  Chesapeake,  turn  their  heads  southward,  and  passing  through  the 
Albemarle  and  Chesapeake  Canal  into  Albemarle  |and  Pamiico  Sounds,  find 
themselves  in  communication  with  1,800  miles  of  inland  navigation. 

The  City  of  New  York  is  not  the  only  part  of  New  York  State  interested 
in  this  work  ;  the  owners  ot  the  steam  propellers  which  will  soon  throng  the 
Erie  Canal  have  a  deep  personal  interest  in  the  matter.  As  the  Baxter  steamed 
south  in  December  last  to  find  work,  so  hundreds  of  other  Erie  steamers, 
Avhen  the  ice  arrests  their  operations  there,  may  find  employment  in  the  Val- 
leys of  the  James  and  Kanawha.  And  this  would  not  end  here ;  the  owner 
who  thus  ran  his  boat  eleven  months,  instead  of  seven,  would  find  that  he 


51 

could  run  it  at  lower  rates,  and  the  Winter's  work  on  the  James  River  Canal 
would  cheapen  the  cost  of  transportation  on  the  Erie." 

Mr.  Southall's  Paper  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Reports. 

The  Board  of  Trade  of  Cincinnati,  presented  a  communication  which  was 
also  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Reports. 

Board  of  Trade,  Secretary's  Office,  Cincinnati,  30th  Not.  ,  1874. 
To  the  President  of  the  Cheap  Transportation  Convention,  Richmond,  Virginia : 

Sir  :  The  delegates  appointed  by  the  Cincinnati  Board  of  Trade  to  repre- 
sent it  at  the  Cheap  Transportion  Convention  regret  that  they  are  unable  to 
be  present  and  take  part  in  the  proceedings. 

They  have,  however,  carefully  considered  the  question  of  cheap  transpor- 
tation, and  the  many  and  various  schemes  that  have  been  presented  to  promote 
the  desired  end  ;  and  while  they  hope  that  the  National  Government  will,  as 
heretofore,  improve  natural  water  lines  of  national  importance  as  fast  as  the 
revenues  of  the  country  will  permit,  they  are  opposed  to  governmental  inter- 
ference with  railroads  beyond  holding  them  strictly  to  the  provisions  of  their 
charters,  or  to  its  lending  any  further  aid  by  grants  of  lands,  bonds,  oren- 
dorsements  to  the  great  highways  of  commerce. 

They  also  believe  that  it  is  not  possible  for  long  and  artificial  water  chan- 
nels to  compete  successfully  with  railroads,  and  are  opposed  to  recommending 
large  outlays  of  public  money  for  any  such  works.  It  is  no  doubt  desirable 
that  canals  which  have  been  constructed  should  be  maintained,  as  they  measu- 
rably prevent  railroad  monopoly,  but  the  time  has  passed  for  the  construction 
of  any  more,  unless  it  may  be  short  links  connecting  long  and  navigable  rivers 
forming  the  boundaries  of  States,  or  to  overcome  the  obstructions  of  a  river 
thus  situated  ;  and  even  in  extending  aid  to  these,  the  reduction  of  taxation 
and  the  national  debt  should  be  kept  steadily  in  view,  and  none  should  be  un- 
dertaken unless  it  shall  appear  that  the  commerce  will  maintain  it,  and  that 
its  construction  will  be  an  unmistakable  national  benefit. 

The  modern  idea  which  was  born  since  the  late  civil  war,  that  the  National 
Government  should  impose  taxes  to  construct  gigantic  works  of  so-called 
public  improvement  of  doubtful  national  character,  when  they  ma}"-  be 
clamored  for  by  interested  parties,  is  utterly  repugnant  to  the  Constitution,  and 
at  war  with  common  sense  ;  and,  if  it  be  adopted  as  a  principle  of  legislation, 
will  surely  lead  to  the  centralization  of  power,  the  promotion  of  enormous 
schemes  of  public  plunder,  and  the  emasculation  of  that  spirit  of  individual 
and  corporate  enterprise  for  which  we  have  been  so  distinguished  as  a  people, 
and  which  has  contributed  so  largely  to  the  rapid  and  unexampled  develop- 
ment of  the  resources  of  the  country. 

With  great  respect  we  remain,  ' 

S.  LESTER  TAYLOR,  Chairman, 
JOHN  J.  HENDERSON, 
JAMES  J.  HOOKER, 

ALEX.  Mcdonald. 


52 

Mr.  T.  G.  CoKANT offered  the  following  resolutions: 

Resolved,  That  the  commerce  of  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi  is  one  of  the 
greatest  interests  which  can  possibly  occupy  the  attention  of  Congress,  and  that 
the  Representatives  of  the  West  and  South,  constituting-  a  large  majority  in 
each  House,  and  representing  aconstituencj^  vitally  interested  in  the  prosper- 
ity of  the  great  basin  of  the  Mississippi,  should  be  held  to  a  strict  account  for 
any  failure  to  seciu-e  an  ample  appropriation  for  the  immediate  construction 
of  such  works,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  as  will  insure  the  safest,  most 
commoJious  and  untrammeled  navigation  between  the  river  and  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  which  science  and  money  can  provide. 

Hesolved,  That  the  immediate  necessity  of  this  improvement  cannot  be  too 
impressively  urged  upon  the  attention  of  Congress,  inasmuch  as  the  highest 
estimates  of  the  total  cost  of  the  work  are  far  less  than  that  depreciation  in 
value  of  the  products  of  the  Valley  for  a  single  year,  which  result  solely  from 
the  present  diflScult,  dangerous  and  discreditable  condition  of  the  outlet  of  the 
grandest  inland  system  of  river  navigation  m  the  world. 

Referred  to  Committee  on  Resolutions. 

The  following  preamble  and  resolutions  w^ere  inesented  by  Mr.  lugersoU  : 

Whe7-eas,  the  Naval  Committee  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa- 
tives of  the  United  States  Congress  have  reported  a  bill  for  cheapening  trans-  ^ 
portation  on  ocean  routes,  of  the  products  of  the  West,  and  the  return  supplies 
of  merchandise  to  Western  markets  from  Europe  at  vastly  reduced  rates,  by 
authorizing  a  company  to  establish  an  iron  ship-building  yard  upon  the  waters 
of  the  Atlantic,  from  which  shall  be  supplied  to  American  ship  builders  mate- 
rials ready  formed,  either  of  frames,  plates,  beams  or  machinery,  at  5  per  cent, 
upon  cost,  for  the  formation  of  iron,  composite  and  other  steam  and  sailing 
vessels ;  and  of  an  iron  steamboat  building  yard  upon  the  Western  waters,  with 
like  conditions,  to  aid  the  Western  boat  builders ;  and 

\V7iereas,  such  facilities  and  advantages  being  of  the  most  practical  char- 
acter, to  revive  the  great  industry  of  ship  building  and  boat  building,  and  the 
wide  range  of  mechanic  industries  dependent  thereon  and  connected  therewith, 
and  to  provide  sources  from  which  can  be  drawn  the  most  economic  means 
of  transportation  upon  interior  water  routes — natural  and  artificial — as  avcII  as 
upon  the  exterior  or  ocean  routes,  by  which  the  agriculturalists  and  planters 
will  be  freed  from  the  heavy  charges  of  foreign  monopolies  for  ocean  freiglits; 
it  is  therefore 

Hesolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  Convention,  that  such  yards  would 
conduce  materially  to  the  prosperity  of  our  entire  country,  in  extending  its 
commerce  in  peace,  and  providing  rapid  means  of  ocean  defense  and  assault 
in  the  exigencies  of  foreign  war,  and  of  giving  immediate  and  permanent  em- 
ployment to  our  mechanics  and  other  working  people  ;  therefore  this  Conven- 
tion consider  the  views  set  forth  in  said  reports  as  well  worthy  the  careful  con- 
sideration of  Congress,  and  these  reports  having  shown  these  yards  to  be  practi- 
cable, this  Convention  would  urge  upon  that  body  the  passage  of  a  bill  author- 
izing the  establishment  of  said  yards.    Referred  to  Committee  on  Resolutions. 

Col.  Wm.  Johnson,  of  Charlotte,  North  Carolina,  offered  the  following : 
Whereas,  The  construction  of  aship  canal  across  the  Isthmus  of    Suez 


53 

connecting  the  -waters  of  the  Red  and  Mediterranean  Seas,  has  greatly  dimin- 
ished both  the  time  and  distance  of  the  voyage  from  all  Southern  and  Western 
Europe  to  India,  China  and  Japan,  with  their  vast  commerce.  And  wJiereas, 
the  shortest  route  from  our  country  to  Eastern  and  Southern  Asia  is  through 
our  Pacific  ports,  and  we  have  but  one  transcontinental  route  by  which  com- 
mercial intercourse  can  be  maintained  throughout  the  Union  with  the  Con- 
tinent of  Asia,  containing  over  600,000,000  of  inhabitants,  or  one-half  the  poput 
lation  of  the  globe.  An^  wJiereas,  the  Southern  Pacific  Railway  route  is  about 
500  miles  shorter  from  our  Pacific  to  our  Atlantic  ports  than  any  other  con- 
structed or  projected  rail  route.  And  wliereas,  its  proposed  line  runs  through 
a  settled  country  of  great  fertility  of  soil,  abounding  in  mineral  wealth,  and 
thAjugh  a  mild  and  temperate  climate,  without  obstructions  from  snow  or  ice, 
and  is  of  comparatively  easy  and  cheap  construction.  Therefore  this  Conven- 
tion do  cordially  recommend  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  to  extend  to 
said  Texas  Pacific  Railroad  such  reasonable  aid  as  will  insure  its  speedy 
completion  from  the  Pacific  Ocean  to  tide-water  on  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  as 
it  is  a  great  work  of  undoubted  national  importance. 

Mr.  Johnson  said  he  was  not  here  to  advance  any  mere  local 
interest,  but  for  the  general  interests  of  the  country.  The  prevalency 
of  the  plan  proposed  would  develope  our  resources,  excelling  the  rapid 
strides  made  by  England ;  save  us  from  the  petrifaction  of  A"Sia,  and 
tend  to  infuse  new  life  in  that  part  of  the  world.  "We  have  the  great  Pacific 
as  a  water  communication,  uninterrupted  by  any  of  the  nations  of  the  earth, 
Thougli  little  was  at  present  known  of  the  country  in  this  route,  it  would  be 
found  to  be  rich  and  ample  in  resources,  having  great  facilities  for  inland 
navigation.  There  is  no  subject  which  is  of  greater  importance.  There  is  no 
danger  of  other  lines.  He  submitted  the  matter  with  a  single  remark:  I  pre- 
sent my  views  not  in  the  interest  of  any  road  or  section,  but  for  the  good  of 
all. 

In  answer  to  inquiry,  the  Chair  said  the  matter  would  be  referred  to  the 
Committee  on  Resolutions  without  debate. 

A  Delegate  said  he  did  not  understand  it.  He  thought  that  debate,  or  pre- 
sentation of  opinion,  on  the  introduction  of  gpmatter,  would  give  light  to  the 
Committee  to  whom  it  was  to  be  referred. 

A  Delegate  asked  if  it  would  be  in  order  to  move  that  the  order  of  busi- 
ness voted  be  modified. 

The  Chair  said  it  would.  On  motion  it  was  voted  that  the  subject  be  de- 
bated.    . 

After  a  lengthy  debate,  Col.  Johnson  asked  permission  to  withdraw  the 
resolutions,  and  was  permitted  to  do  so. 

On  motion  adjourned. 


EVENING  SESSION. 

Wednesday,  Dec.  2, 1874— 7^  P.  M. 

The  President,  Josiah  Qijincy,  in  the  Chair. 

A  committee  having  called  upon  the  Governor,  reported  that  he  had  ex- 
expressed  his  warm  sympathy  with  the  objects  of  the  Committee;  but  was  not 
able  to  address  them  formally. 


54 

The  Chair  said  his  Excellency  was  present,  and  hoped  that  if  he  did  not 
make  a  speech  he  would  show  us  what  manner  of  man  a  Governor  of  Virginia  is. 
[Applause.] 

The  GovERNOB,  asked  to  be  permitted  to  express  in  few  words  his  heart- 
felt thanks,  as  Governor  of  this  Commonwealth,  for  tlie  coming  of  the  Con- 
vention to  her  and  here  ;  and  avoiding  the  hackneyed  platitudes  common  on 
such  occasions,  he  desired  to  manifest  the  fraternal  feelings  prevalent  among 
the  public  towards  each  other,  and  desire  for  genera^good  of  the  country  at 
large.  We  greet  you  gladly,  because  5'ou  came  here  in  no  sectional  spirit,  but 
actuated  by  the  spirit  that  sees  no  State,  no  part,  but  tbe  domain  of  the  whole. 
I  beg  leave  to  suggest  that  no  man  comprehends  the  vastness  of  this  country 
and  its  capabillities.  And  here  in  its  heart  lies  the  great  basin  which  can  pro- 
vide for  the  whole  continent.  If  diverse  views  here  prevail,  they  can  be  har- 
monized on  the  central  water  line,  as  ample  for  all  the  purposes  designed 
practicable,  and  the  most  so,  if  any.  Our  water  lines  are  the  greatest  in  the 
world.  He  could  not  but  praise,  and,  as  Oliver  Twist  said,  I  would  cry  for 
more  in  a  voice  of  thunder  ;  a  more  of  works  for  development  [cheers]  of 
Virginia  and  the  country  along  the  route,  for  the  glory  and  good  of  the  whole 
nation.  With  the  natural  pride  that  becomes  the  mother  of  States,  she  would 
scorn  to  ask  moi'e  than  her  share,  but  is  willing  to  do  her  part  for  all ;  she 
wishes  t6  extend  a  welcome  hand  to  every  part  of  this  broad  empire. 

But  permit  me  to  say  to  you,  Mr.  President,  that  your  honored  sire  saw 
here  the  great  central  tier  of  States  running  through  the  heart  of  the  mildest, 
most  genial  climate  on  the  continent. 

And  if  the  axiom  be  true  that  the' shortest  line  between  any  two  given 
points  is  a  straight  line,  then  a  water  line  from  St.  Louis  to  Hampton  Roads  is 
the  best  line  for  transportation,  for  speed,  cheapness  and  health  and  com- 
fort. Virginia  does  not  want  this  if  it  is  not  right,  and,  for  the  best,  I  ask  you  to 
give  us  no  more  than  you  should  give.  Along  this  line  can  eight  pillion  tons 
of  coal  be  obtained  annually,  and  other  things  in  proportion.  Giving  to  us  this 
travel,  you  get  what  you  desire.  Hoping  that  your  deliberation  may  result  in 
great  good,  I  bid  you  welcome  and  hope  to  receive  each  one  of  you  by  the 
hand  as  a  personal  friend  and  tender  to  you  the  hospitality  of  the  Executive 
mansion.     [Applause.] 

A  vote  of  thanks  was  suggested  by  the  Chair  and  passed  unanimously. 

Mr.  Hunter,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Reports,  reported  favorably 
upon  the  following  recommendations  emboaied  in  reports  referred  to  the 
Committee : 

1.  To  prevent  stock- watering. 

2.  Requiring  lines  to  post  at  every  depot  the  rates  of  charges  to  every 
point,  and  forbidding  changes  unless  on  thirty  days'  notice. 

3.  Forbidding  railroad  officers  from  being  interested  in  fast  freight  lines 
car  companies  or  railroad  supplies. 

4.  A  law  against  unjust  discrimination  against  places  not  on  competing 
.nes. 

5.  Against  allowing  public  officers  to  have  free  passes. 

6.  Law  requiring  common  carriers  to  receipt  for  quantity  and  deliver  the 
same. 

7.  Forbidding  legislators  to  be  retained  as  counsel  in  any  case. 


S5 

8.  That  Congress  adopt  such  of  these  laws  as  it  has  the  power  to  pass, 
and  the  States  the  other  laws. 

9.  That  each  State  have  a  Board  of  Railroad  Commissioners. 

10.  That  the  United  States  have  a  Department  of  Commerce  and  a  Bu- 
reau of  Transportation. 

11.  That  the  Government  do  all  in  its  power  to  favor  competing  lines. 

12.  That  the  recommendation  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Transporta- 
tion be  cordially  approved. 

These  points  were  taken  up  and  adopted  seriatim. 

Mr.  Thurber  asked,  is  it  now  necessary  for  us  to  embody  these  resolu- 
tions or  sentiments  in  the  regular  list  which  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  is 
to  rfcport,  for  these  are  equivalent  to  resolutions? 

Mr.  Hunter  doubted  the  propriety  of  another  reference,  but  it  might 
perhaps  be  proper. 

On  motion  the  report,  as  a  whole,  was  adopted. 

On  motion  adjourned  to  10  A.  M.  to-morrow. 


Thursbay,  Dec.  3, 1874—10  A.  M. 

Hon.  JosiAH  QuiNCY  in  the  chair. 

The  Chair  asked,  is  there  any  business  befort  the  Convention  to  occupy 
its  time  while  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  is  preparing  to  report  ? 

M.  B.  Lloyd,  delegate  from  tlie  State  Farmers'  Association  of  Illinois  : 
I  wish  to  offer  some  items  as  expressive  of  the  views  of  the  Association  and  of 
my  own  views.  In  so  much  of  the  following  as  refers  to  a  Government  Rail- 
road, the  views  presented  may  be  considered  as  my  own. 

We  desire  to  obtain  low  rates  of  transportation  over  our  whole  country  and 
to  that  end  we  ask  of  Congress — 

First :  The  repeal  of  all  protective  duties,  as  a  means  of  lessening  the  cost 
of  constructing  and  operating  transportation  lines ;  and  as  cost  is  lessened  of 
course  rates  may  be  lowered. 

Second :  The  immediate  making  of  some  of  the  least  expensive  and  most 
important  water  ways  and  watef  connections,  amongst  which  we  recognize  the 
extension  of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal  to  the  Mississippi  River,  and  the 
Fort  St.  Philip  Canal,  connecting  the  mouth  of  that  river  with  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico.  In  recognizing  those  we  do  not  mean  to  imply  that  there  are  not 
others  which  it  is  well  to  make. 

Third:  The  immediate  building  of  one  Government  Railroad — double 
track  freight  railroad,  as  a  means  of  testing  the  practicability  of  obtaining  low 
rates,  and  as  a  means  of  obtaining  competition  with  present  existing  roads,  and 
causing  them  to  compete,  for  in  no  other  way  does  it  seem  possible  to  obtain 
competition.  We  consider  the  question  of  railroad  transportation  as  yet  in  its 
infancy,  and  believe  ^he  future  may  develop  and  determine  the  very  low  rates 
at  which  rail  transportation  can  be  conducted. 

Fourth :  Said  railroad  to  be  honestly  and  economically  built,  and  to  be  a 
Government  Railroad  highway,  free  to  all  persons  and  companies  of  persons  to 
run  their  engines  and  trains  thereon,  subject  to  the  regulations  and  control  of 
a  Commissioner,  and  an  assistant  and  advisory  Commissioner,  under  w^ose 


56 

direction  and  control  tlxe  road  sliall  be  operated,  and  subject  also  to  the  pay- 
meat  of  a  toll  of  one  mill  per  ton  per  mile  on  the  gross  weight  of  engines,  cars 
and  their  loading.  And  said  persons  and  companies  who  own  and  run  those 
trains  not  to  charge  on  freight  furnished  them  by  the  car  load  a  higher  rate 
than  five  mills  per  ton  per  mile;  and  the  rate  of  speed  for  running  trains  not  to 
exceed  ten  miles  an  hour. 

And  as  the  object  of  building  said  road  is  to  furnish  low  rates  of  transpor- 
tation, this  rate  of  toll  of  one  mill  per  ton  per  mile  is  to  be  reduced  whenever 
found  to  be  more  than  sufficient  to  pay  expenses,  keep  the  road  in  repair,  pay 
the  annual  interest  on  cost  of  construction,  and  one  million  of  the  principal  of 
cost  yearly.  And  also  it  is  considered  that  competition  between  the  different 
trains  on  the  road  will  soon  reduce  the  rates  for  freight  furnished  them  by  the 
car  load  to  a  rate  lower  than  five  mills  per  ton  per  mile. 

Fifth :  We  suggest  that  the  cost  of  constructing  above-mentioned  transpor- 
tation ways  be  met  by  paying  out  therefor  as  the  work  progresses,  a  new  issue 
of  Government  greenback  currency,  exchangable  at  the  option  of  the  holder 
for  Government  bonds,  drawing  just  such  a  rate  of  interest  as  will  make  them 
worth  their  face  value  in  gold,  say  3.65,  or  four  per  cent.  As  those  bonds 
would  be  worth  in  the  market  their  face  value  in  gold,  this  currency  would  be 
on  a  par  with  gold,  and  being  thus  cannot  inflate  prices,  and  would  furnish  to 
the  country  the  exact  thing  needed,  to  wit :  a  currency  on  a  par  with  gold.  In 
suggesting  this  we  do  not  propose  to  increase  the  Government  indebtedness, 
nor  to  add  to  the  volume  of  currency  now  in  circulation,  but  to  retire  the  pres- 
ent indebtedness  as  the  new  takes  its  place. 

With  all  protective  duties  repealed  the  cost  of  production  in  our  country 
will  be  very  much  lessened,  and  with  low  rates  of  transportation  our  Western 
and  Southern  products  can  be  laid  down  on  the  seaboard  and  in  Europe  at  such 
prices  as  to  command  the  European  markets,  thus  enabling  the  exports  from 
our  country  to  exceed  our  imports,  turning  the  balance  of  trade  decidedly  in 
our  favor  and  stopping  the  drain  of  specie. 

Also  the  issue  of  the  exchangeable  currency  and  the  3.65  percent,  bond 
will  very  much  lower  the  rates  of  interest,  thus  materially  assisting  manufac- 
turers and  producers  to  produce  at  lower  cost.     (Referred.) 

• 

Thitksday,  3  p.  M.,  December  3,  1874. 

The  President,  Mr.  Quincy,  having  been  suddenly  called  home,  Mr.  John 
F.  Henfy,  First  Vice-President,  was  called  to  the  chair. 

Mr.  LiTTLEK  moved  a  committee  of  five  to  nominate  oflacers  for  the  ensu- 
ing year.     Carried. 

The  Chair  appointed  Messrs.  Littler,  Allen,  Hunter,  Rucker  and  Ingersoll. 

Mr.  Waldo  M.  Potter,  of  Davenport,  Iowa,  presented  the  following 
substitute  for  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions : 

Resolved,  That  in  the  proposed  Rock  Island  and  Hannepin  Canal,  in  the 
State  of  Illinois,  connecting  the  Mississippi  River  with  the  Illinois  River  and 
Canal,  and  the  chain  of  water-ways  to  the  seaboard,  this  Convention  recognizes 
a  project  of  great  merit  in  proportion  to  expenditure  involved,  promising 
materially  to  cheapen  the  cost  of  transporting  the  grain  of  the  Northwest  to 
the  markets  of  the  world,  and  we,  therefore,  respectfully  urge  upon  Congress 


57 

the  necessity  of  commencing  this  much-needed  improvement  without  further 
delay.  \ 

Mr.  Thurber  said :  All  this  is  in  the  Report  of  the  United  States  Senate 
Committee,  and  unnecessarj-  to  be  repeated  here.. 

Mr.  Potter  said  he  only  wished  to  get  the  matter  clearly  before  us,  so 
that  it  be  seen.  He  wished  specific  action,  and  had  introduced  this 
resolution  as  a  test  question.  He  has  no  sectional  feeling  in  this  matter.  If  a 
canal  going  through  Virginia  or  Georgia  be  best,  let  us  so  decide  ;  do  some- 
thing. 

Mr.  Thurber  read  what  the  report  proposed  suggested.  He  did  not  favor 
specific  legislation.  Until  there  are  surveys  there  can  be  no  full  decision. 
Then  Congress  can  decide. 

Mr.  Hunter  agreed  with  the  gentleman  from  New  York.  If  the  Senate 
recommendations  are  good,  let  us  adhere  to  them.  He  did  not  wish  to  have 
special  or  sectional  measures.  It  is  better  to  adopt  the  recommendation  of  the 
Senate  Committee,  according  to  examinations  of  engineers,  than  it  is  for  us  to 
endeavor  to  change  these.  Let  us  stand  by  tlie  resolutions  we  adopted 
yesterday. 

Mr.  Imboden  ;  Specific  legislation  should  not  be  exclusively  for  a  little 
matter  in  the  Northwest. 

Mr.  Potter:  No,  sir.  I  said  I  was  in  favor  of  some  great  route  for  tlTe 
South. 

Mr.  Imboden;  Yes,  sir.  We  should  be  in  favor  of  the  nationality  of 
recommendations.  [Applause.]  He  would  not  favor  the  South  merely.  [Ap- 
plause.] We  should  be  as  a  united  voice  of  men  from  all  parts  of  the  country, 
for  the  good  of  the  whole.  [Applause.]  In  pressing  the  claims  of  our  great 
central  water  route  through  Virginia,  we  have  sought  to  benefit  the  North- 
west, whose  great  competitor  is  not  in  the  United  States,  but  in  the  other 
hemisphere — in  Russia — that  produces  five  times  as  much  as  we  do  in  a  year. 
Its  wheat  is  brought  to  its  ports  by  water  lines,  and  so  cheap  as  to  keep  your 
wheat  out  of  the  market ;  you  cannot  compete  with  them. 

Mr.  Potter  asked  :  Are  you  willing  that  Congress  pass  measures  proposed 
to  the  amount  of  two  hundred  millions? 

Mr.  Imboden:  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Potter:  Have  you  any  ground  for  belief  that  Congress  will  do  so? 

Mr.  Imboden:  Yes,  sir.  If  Congress  is  convinced  that  it  is  for  the 
best. 

Mr.  Potter. — On  that  basis  the  gentleman  is  right.  But  I  wish  to  indi- 
cate what  is  right  first. 

Mr.  Imboden  ;  Canada  is  also  a  competitor,  in  the  Welland  Canal, 
which  she  fosters.  In  three  years  it  will  be  fully  complete.  Gentlemen  from 
New  York,  are  you  willing  to  have  such  a  competitor? 

Mr.  Potter:  Let  New  York  build  a  ship  canal. 

Mr.  Imboden  :  I  am  coming  to  that.  When  you  have  constructed  that 
canal,  you  will  have  to  carry  the  grain  down  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  then  turn 
at  right  angles  and  come  through  Lake  Champlain  and  Canal  and  Hudson 
River  to  New  York,  far  inferior  to  the  central  lines  of  Virginia.  Tliis 
route  is  to  be  always  open,  not  closed  by  Winter,  as  the  Northern  route 
talked  of.    Here  is  the  highway  of  the  nation  for  the  products  of  the  West. 


58 

[Cheers.]  This  is  the  great  measure  to  be  pressed,  if  we  have  special  legisla- 
tion. Also  think  of  the  coal  interests  of  the  country ;  150  millions  in  1890, 
and  at  same  ratio  in  1900,  300  millions  ;  and  the  iron  interests  are  more  vast, 
200  millions  of  tons  per  year  now.  This  central  route  cuts  the  finest  coal  and 
iron  region  in  the  country.  By  this  route  coal  can  be  brought  to  this  port  for 
less  than  three  dollars  per  ton.  New  England  will  find  a  decrease  of  two  or 
three  dollars  per  ton  from  the  prices  they  are  paying  now.  Railroads  are  not 
highways,  but  monopolies.  Carry  out  the  policy  of  the  Senate  Committee' 
and  millions  will  be  the  result  in  business  and  shipping  being  built,  and  res- 
toration of  commerce. 

Mr.  Stearns  :  The  gentleman  attaches  too  muck  importance  to  the 
amount  of  money  necessary  to  build  the  routes  proposed — 300  millions.  It  is 
as  easy  to  raise  the  wind  for  these,  as  it  is  to  raise  funds  on  a  cargo  of  wheat. 
We  can  do  it  by  bonds  on  interest.  Let  them  be  issued  at  the  rate  of  30  mil- 
lions per  year.  And  it  will  pay  in  a  very  short  time,  in  our  facilities  to  reach 
the  markets  of  Europe  and  Asia.  Let  us  adopt  the  whole  four  great  works. 
[Applause.]  A  work  of  only  seven  or  eight  years,  and  the  money  to  be  raised 
by  our  own  people.  The  money  of  the  country  is  the  oil  of  commerce  that 
keeps  the  machinery  of  the  nations  in  motion.  We  need  all  to  become  pro- 
ducers. We  can  affoi'd  to  do  it.  The  cost  is  nothing,  comparatively  speaking. 
Do  not  let  us  hear  anything  more  from  the  gentleman  from  Iowa  about  that 
little  canal ;  we  can  build  the  whole.  [Api^lause.]  We  can  drive  the  Romans 
into  some  other  country.  [Cheers.]  Soon  we  can  carry  iron  and  coal  into 
Liverpool  and  undersell  them  there.  The  party  that  neglects  this  will  go 
under.  [Laughter.]  Such  is  my  hope — with  fear — that  the  Republican  party 
will  take  it  up,  and  the  Lord  and  the  people  will  bless  them  in  the  work. 

Mr.  Frobel  :  I  did  not  come  here  to  argue  for  Georgia,  or  to  favor  any 
particular  measure;  but  to  discuss  the  general  subject  of  cheap  transportation. 
The  man  that  thinks  that  any  particular  route  will  meet  the  wants  of  all,  is  like 
the  man  that  supposes  that  the  treatment  of  one  part  of  the  body  will  secure 
the  health  of  the  whole  body.  I  will  not  tell  you  how  much  the  route  for 
Georgia  will  satisfy  the  whole  country.  The  Senate  Committee  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  to  reach  the  trouble  upon  us,  we  must  look  to  the  two  routes 
specified  by  the  Committee.  We  also  looked  to  the  Mississippi — the  great 
father  of  waters — the  common  sense  route  possible  for  the  interests  of  this 
whole  country.  The  gentleman  from  Texas  went  back,  away  beyond  the  past, 
to  consider  a  point  that  Congress  never  considered — the  constitutionality  of 
the  question. 

Mr.  Moody  of  Texas  asked  where  in  the  Constitution  is  the  clause  bear- 
ing on  the  case  'i* 

Mr.  Frobel  was  glad  that  the  question  had  been  askeo.  He  v»  ould  tell  where, 
so  that  there  can  be  no  mistake  in  the  matter.  The  question  of  constitutional- 
ity was  raised  during  the  administration  of  Mr.  Madison,  who  was  the  father 
of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  He  said  in  his  message,  recommend- 
ing the  work  of  internal  improvements  in  Louisiana,  and  says  that  if  Congress 
doubts  the  constitutionality  of  it,  he  advises  that  the  constitutional  steps  be 
at  once  taken  to  remedy  this  defect.  This  is  the  spirit,  if  not  precise  words, 
of  Mr.  Madison.  The  measure  passed  without  question  as  to  the  constitution- 
ality of  it.     In  1833  the  question  was  raised  again  by  Mr.  Calhoun,   who  said 


59  . 

he  was  satisfied  Congress  had  the  right  to  construct  canals,  &c.  It  seems  ever 
to  have  been  the  policy  of  the  Government  to  aid  such  works  of  a  national 
character.  The  gentleman  from  Texas  said  that  Texas  did  not  ask  any 
aid.  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  one  Southern  State  does  not  need  aid.  But 
we  must  recollect  that  Texas  came  late  into  this  Union.  The  bupden  of 
a  second  revolution  had  been  met  and  wiped  out  before  Texas  came  in  with 
a  host  of  public  lands.  I  do  not  say  this  with  any  reproach  to  Texas.  "We 
should  remember  what  Georgia  and  what  every  State  has  done  for  this  Union. 
Much  territoiy  given  to  the  United  States  to  meet  debts  incurred  by  war  is  the 
case  of  Texas.     Now  shall  we  talk  of  the  unconstitionality  of  giving  a  little. 

Mr.  Carrington  disliked  the  differences  between  the  South  and  the  North- 
west seeming  greater  than  they  really  are.  He  expected  all  would  agree  soon. 
Had  attended  two  of  these  Conventions  and  other  commercial  conventions. 
The  way  in  which  business  is  generally  accomplished  is  this  :  a  Committee  is 
appointed  on  Resolutions — generally  the  only  standing  committee  is  had — to 
whom  all  are  referred,  and  every  one  reported  back  •  and  generally  such  is  a 
mere  advertising  process.  But  the  National  Board  of  Trade  has  a  different 
mode  of  doing.  It  adopts  the  mode  of  referring  to  committees  for  examina- 
tion, and  report  of  full  testimony  on  each  point  referred  to^hem.  That  is  the 
only  body  in  the  United  States  to  pursue  this  course.  This  body  has  had  be- 
fore the  Senate  Committee  Report.  He  wished  every  member  of  the  Convet.- 
tion  hiM  read  it;  it  was  so  comprehensive  and  thorough.  But  this  body  is  the 
first  popular  body  that  has  contented  itself  to  take  the  testimony  of  such  a 
Committee,  and  confined  itself  to  the  same  conclusions — the  wisest  course. 
Mr.  Utley  had  examined  all  the  routes  proposed  ;  not  one  of  which  but  he 
approved.  [Cheers.]  A  few  remarks  had  been  made  seemingly  to  favor  the 
idea  that  Illinois  had  a  little  pet  scheme  of  a  few  miles.  It  is  true  that  we 
have,  and  let  us  have,  opportunities  to  discuss  all  the  propositions.  [Ap- 
plause.] The  Northern  Canal  and  the  Kanawha  Canal,  and  all.  We  all  have 
our  favorite  schemes.  We  should  consider  each  project,  at  least.  The  West 
asks  us  so  to  do.  He  was  pleased  to  meet  his  Southern  friends,  and  would 
aid  them  as  far  as  possible. 

Chair  announced  the  Nominating  Committee  on  Organization — Littler, 
Allen,  Hunter,  Rucker  and  IngersoU. 

Mr.  Carrington  moved  adjournment  to  8  p.  ra.    Carried. 


Thursitat  Evening,  December  3, 1874. 

Mr.  Henry  in  the  chair. 

Mr.  Bross  said  one  of  the  most  important  matters  to  be  attended  to  was 
the  location  of  the  place  for  the  next  Convention.  He  moved  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  committee  of  five  to  select  the  place.     Carried. 

Chair  appointed  Messrs.  Bross,  Merriam,  Frobel,  IngersoU  and  Imboden. 

Mr.  BuRWELL  w^ished  to  answer  the  gentleman  from  Iowa.  His  views 
will  destroy  the  probability  of  our  getting  what  we  need  from  Congress.  He 
was  astonished  at  the  lack  of  statesmanship  displayed.  To  think  that 
Congress  had  not  statesmanship  to  dispose  of  $200,000,000  for  these  four  great 


GO 

lines  of  travel.  There  is  certainly  suflBcient  wisdom  in  Congress  to  consider 
and  treat  these  matters.  Within  the  past  four  years  $400,000,000  have  been 
disposed  of.  There  is  ability  to  manage  double  that,  and  more.  That  great 
Senate  Committee  Report  is  well  worthy  of  study,  and  faith  and  works  accord- 
ing to  it  1,333  miles  of  great  central  line,  water  line,  for  shipping,  is  well 
worthy  the  expenditure  of  $300,000,000,  and  more.  The  interest  alone  would 
be  $700,000  a  year.  We  can  easily  manage  that.  •  Yes,  we  can,  in  Richmond 
alone,  attend  to  five  times  that  amount.  In  this  city  pay  the  interest  to  have 
the  Government  pass  these  measures,  and  we  would  gain  by  it  in  our  home 
profit,  while  the  nation  gains  its  full  share  in  proportion  with  us.  Neither 
party  need  fear  taking  hold  of  this  matter  ;  it  will  soon  become  popular  with 
the  people.  We  hoped  that  the  Convention  would  not  have  only  a  single  one 
of  the  schemes  indorsed  here ;  let  all  go.  We  might  learn  much  from  a  con- 
sideration of  the  Southern  Railroad.  But  let  all  these  fovu-  bands  go  together 
as  brothers.  They  should  be  put  through  this  Winter,  or  in  the  early  part  of 
the  Forty-fourth  Congress.  As  to  the  vast  preparations  for  these  works,  and 
the  constitutionality  of  the  thing,  why,  sir,  they  can  stand  even  upon  the 
extreme  ideas  of  the  States  Rights  school.  But  States  cannot  make  treaties 
between  each  other.  Therefore  the  States  cannot  do  it ;  it  needs  National 
legislation.  But  it  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  States  it  is  in  the  power  of  the 
general  Government.  It  must,  if  done  at  aU,  be  done  by  the  Government  of 
the  Union  ;  and  is  perfectly  constitutional,  according  to  Judge  Marshadl's  re- 
peated decisions  respecting  such  matters.  He  would  call  upon  Hon.  R.  M.  T. 
Hunter  for  his  views  on  this  question. 

Mr.  Hunter  said  the  old  States  Rights  men  are  nearly  obsolete.  He 
was  one  of  them.  It  was  their  opinion  that  when  the  State  could  do  the  work 
it  was  well  for  the  State  to  do  it ;  but  if  it  could  not,  of  course  it  would  not 
be  practicable.  And  when  the}'^  cannot,  the  general  Government  should. 
Congress  only  can  attend  to  works  of  this  class. 

Upon  motion  of  Mr.  Dore,  Mr.  Utley  was  invited  to  address  the  Convention 
in  regard  to  the  Rock  Island  and  Hennepin  Canal. 

Mr.  Utley  was  thanliful  for  the  high  honor  of  being  called  to  address  so 
many  distinguished  gentlemen  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  What  he  said 
was  to  have  the  merit  of  brevity.  Would  speak  of  the  improvements  made  in 
Illinois.  The  Canal  already  constructed  from  Chicago  is  230  miles,  with  29 
feet,  4  inches  fall  only  to  the  river.  In  1869,  a  bill  was  passed  by  the  State, 
authorizing  the  Can.al  Commissioners  to  commence  a  public  work,  with  an 
appropriation  of  $400,000..  The  Government  of  the  U.  S.  had  appropriated 
$85,000  for  the  impi'ovement  of  tl^e  river,  with  small  amount  for  bridging. 
Subsequently  the  State  Legislature  made  another  appropriation  of  $400,000,  for 
sixty  miles.  The  cheapest  and  most  valuable  improvement  ever  made  in  any 
country,  in  view  of  the  benefit  conferred.  We  have  heard  something  about 
this  "little  canal;'"  but  it  will  be  seen  that  it  connects  great  portions  of 
country,  providing  a  great  outlet.  There  is  required  19  ascending  and  9 
descending  locks.  The  difference  in  height  between  the  two  rivers 
being  120  feet.  We  are  now  debarred  by  limitations  by  the  State  Con- 
stitutional Convention  from  making  any  further  appropriation.  The 
people  objecting  to  providing  and  paying  for  outlets  for  ©th^  States. 
But  they  needed  to  be  convinced  by  the  railroad  taking  three-fourths  of  the 


61 

crop  for  carrying  the  one-fourth  to  Chicago.  It  was  a  good  lesson.  Less  than 
four  millions  will  build  the  work  asked  for.  When  constructed  it  will  have 
over  a  thousand  miles  of  coast  on  Lake  to  drain,  with  15,000  mi^es  of  shore 
line  of  river  uavigaton.  It  may  seem  like  a  little  thing,  but  it  is  a  vital  mat- 
ter to  us  in  the  Northwest,  to  all  of  us  there.  There  is  an  absolute  necessity 
for  its  construction  by  the  General  Government.  The  high  cost  of  freight 
west  of  the  Lakes  is  very  great.  The  Erie  Canal  has  done  wonders  for  us 
Eastward,  but  we  need  this  Western  Canal ;  but  in  Winter  the  railroads  have 
tiill  power  over  us,  and  we  cannot  get  a  railroad  completely  under  control  of  the 
people  of  the  country.  The  construction  of  this  short  canal  will  cause  a  vast 
saving  to  the  people,  and  immense  amounts  of  property  would  find  their  way 
to  market.  If  the  Congress  can  regulate  the  commerce  between  the  States,  it 
can  promote  it.  The  day  is  not  far  distant,  when  this  question  of  cheap  trans- 
portation will  be  the  dividing  line  between  political  parties ;  and  they  must 
shape  themselves  accordingly.  Railroads  have  done  much  for  the  country, 
but  nothing  can  keep  them  to  what  is  fair.  England  has  tried  the  experiment 
for  thirty  years,  and  now  by  law  seeks  to  control  the  roads,  and  to  construct 
new  waterways.  This  is  the  the  only  way  for  you  in  Virginia.  He  would  join 
with  all  to  aid  the  Central  route. 

Mr.  Hill  did  not  propose  to  discuss  the  relative  claims  of  railroads  and 
canals,  but  wished  to  make  a  single  suggestion  in  regard  to  chea^)  transporta- 
tion. We  have  listened  with  great  interest  and  profit  to  the  able  remarks. 
Our  information  has  been  increased,  if  we  do  nothing  more  definite  than  we 
have  done.  But  he  hoped  that  the  question  of  railroads  would  not  be  smoth- 
ered by  the  water  lines.  Railroads  are  yet  young,  and  capable  of  great  im- 
provement. He  agreed  entirely  with  Mr.  Hunter,  as  to  who  should  construct 
or  aid  in  constructing  great  wcjrks  of  internal  improvement.  Abilitj^  is  the 
measure  and  standard  of  constructor.  Let  us  take  the  most  liberal  view,  and 
so  advance  our  cause.  Hoped  that  all  the  measures  talked  would  ultimately 
prevail.  But  the  question  is  now,  how  can  any  of  these  be  reached  ?  Some 
system  should  be  devised.  It  is  not  supposible  that  70,000  miles  of  railroads 
will  be  superseded  in  this  country.  The  questions  of  Stat&  rights  and  con- 
stitutionality are  broad  questions.  But  this  Convention  should  urge  upon 
Congress  something  practical,  right  and  possible.  He  hoped  that  to-morrow 
time  would  be  given  to  the  consideration  of  a  double-track  railroad.  After 
you  have  settled  on  some  plan  in  relation  to  the  four  lines  talked  of,  talk  of 
railroads. 

Mr.  Utley  had  said  that  it  was  good  that  the  railroads  had  put  the  screws 
on  the  people  and  taught  them  a  good  lesson.  He  submitted  that  the  same 
remark  would  apply  to  many  parts  of  the  country  that  cannot  be  reached  by 
canals.  He  thought  that  water  lines  had  now  had  a  fair  share  of  time  for  con- 
sideration, and  would  submit  that,  if  the  Government  have  a  right  to  construct 
canals,  they  may  construct  and  own  railroads.  He  did  not  w,ish  to  urge  their 
construction  at  present,  but  wished  it  considered  as  possible  and  proper.  Rail- 
roads give  true  competition  and  constant  commerce  all  the  year. 

The  Chair  said,  it  was  true  that  railroads  have  had  but  little  chance  to 
be  heard  ;  he  wished  them  discussed.    It  is  well  enough  for  canals  to  have 


62 

short  lines,  but  without  railroads  we  would  all  starve  in  New  York  City.     He 
hoped  none  would  go  away  without  having  the  matter  fully  discussed. 
On  mqtion  of  Mr.  Utlby,  adjourned  to  10  a.  m.,  to-morrow. 


Fbidat,  10  A.  M.,  Dec.  4,  1874. 

Mr.  Henry  in  the  chair. 

Mr.  Fairfield  presented  resolutions  in  relation  to  change  of  name  of  the 
A«sociation 

Whereas,  It  is  the  purpose  and  object  of  this  Association  to  consider  and 
act  upon  the  question  of  transportation  in  all  its  bearings,  and  it  is  found  to 
be  inseparable  from  the  great  interests  of  commerce,  finance,  agriculture  and 
manufactures  ; 

Whereas,  This  Association  now  represents  through  its  membership  not 
only  the  transportation  interests  of  the  United  States,  but  those  of  the  com- 
mercial, financial,  manufacturing  and  agricultural,  in  their  relations  to  trans.- 
portation ; 

Whereas,  While  it  is  the  purpose  of  this  Association  to  expose,  assail  and 
endeavor  to  correct  the  abuses  in  our  transportation  system,  it  is  likewise  its 
purpose  to  encourage  and  protect  capital  which  has  been  honestly  invested  in 
transportation  facilities; 

Wliereas,  In  view  of  the  fact  that  this  Association  is  composed  of  repre- 
sentatives from  various  organizations  and  trade  bodies  throughout  the  country, 
the  title  of  "  Cheap  Transportation  •'  is  limited  and  inapplicable,  and  that  the 
title  of  "  American  Board  of  Transportation  and  Commerce,"  or  one  of  more 
general  application  than  the  present  one  is  most  essential;  be  it  therefore 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed  by  the  Chair  to  consider 
the  matter  of  changing  the  title  of  this  Association  and  that  they  be  instructed 
to  report  in  time  for  action  at  the  present  session  of  this  Convention. 

Mr.  Thtjrber  explained  need  of  change  in  consequence  of  the  difliculty  of 
being  understood,  many  now  supposing  we  were  making  war  upon  the  entire 
system  of  transportation ;  but  we  are  only  warring  against  the  abuses.  With 
the  new  title  we  will  be  better  understood.     The  term  is  more  comprehensive. 

Mr.  Thurber  moved  its  reference  to  a  special  committee.  Carried. 
And  the  Chairman  appointed  Messrs.  Fairfield,  Littler  and  Rucker. 

Mr.  Dobbins,  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y. ,  then  addressed  the  convention  as  follows : 

Oentlemen  of  the  Convention  : 

Although  late,  I  am  nevertheless  here  delegated  by  the  Board  of  Trade  of 
Buflfalo,  N.  Y.,  to  advocate  Cheap  and  Rapid  Transportation.  Situated 
as  the  City  of  Buffalo  is,  at  the  foot  of  the  great  chain  of  Lakes,  and  at  the 
head  of  the  great  Erie  Canal,  that  pioneer  of  Cheap  Transportation,  and  hav- 
ing had  millions  upon  millions  pass  through  her  hands,  going  Eastward  and 
going  Westward,  we  claim  for  her  some  knowledge  of  transportation.  It 
may  be  of  some  interest  to  the  gentlemen  of  the  Convention  to  know  that  a 
great  change  is  being  worked  in  transportation  of  produce  from  Chicago  and 
other  Western  Lake  Ports,  through  the  Great  Lakes  to  Buffalo  and  thence 
through  the  Erie  Canal  and  Hudson  River  to  New  York  City.  It  is  but  a 
short  time  since  our  Lake  craft  were  mostly  small  sail  vessels,  carrying  cargoes 


63 

of  from  twejity  to  thirty  thousand  bushels  of  wheat  or  corn,  and  mailing  the 
trip  from  Chicago  to  Buffalo  in  from  eight  to  ten  days  time.  Now  we  have 
large  steam  barges,  carrying  from  fifty  to  eighty  thousand  bushels,  and  towing 
a  consort  barge  or  two,  each  carrying  as  much  or  more  than  the  steamer  and 
making  the  trip  in  from  four  to  five  days  time. 

The  rate  of  freight  paid  the  former  small  sized  vessels  was  from  10  to  15 
cents  per  bushel.  The  rate  of  the  latter  during  the  year  1874  averages  4^ 
cents  per  bushel,  on  wheat.  Here  we  have  a  great  increase  in  speed,  and  a 
great  reduction  in  rate  of  freight,  and  all  this  by  the  introduction  of  steam 
within  the  last  three  or  four  years.  And  so  it  is  with  the  Erie  Canal.  The 
enormous  and  rapid  increase  in  amount  of  the  grain,  etc.,  movement  to  the 
seaboard  from  the  Great  West  brought  out  the  incapacity  of  the  Erie  Canal 
and  boats,  as  then  managed  and  worked  by  horse  or  mule  power,  to  do  the 
work,  and  other  cheaper  and  quicker  routes  were  sought  out.  The  State  of 
New  York,  believing  her  canals  possessed  greater  capacity  than  was  developed 
by  animal  power,  offered  a  reward  or  prize  of  $100,000  for  the  most  successful 
and  economical  introduction  of  steam  or  any  power  other  than  animal  on  the 
canals  of  the  State.  This  brought  out  the  successful  and  economical  intro- 
duction of  steam  by  Wm.  Baxter  and  others,  and  to-day  we  have  a  fine  line  of 
12  Baxter  steamers  on  the  Erie  Canal  and  Hudson  River,  and  we  are  enabled 
to  assure  the  gentlemen  of  the  Convention  that  these  Baxter  steamers  have 
made  the  trip  repeatedly  from  Buffalo  to  New  York  in  less  than  6  days,  as 
against  14  days  usually  consumed  by  the  horse  boats,  and  have  done  it  at  the 
rate  of  10  cents  per  mile  for  power,  as  against  33  cents  per  mile,  the  usual 
price  for  towing  a  boat  by  horse  or  mule  power,  and  that  the  rate  of  freight  has 
been  reduced  from  12  and  15  cents  per  bushel  to  8  and  10  cents  per  bushel. 
Here  is  cheapening  and  increasing  of  rapidity  of  transportation  in  earnest. 
And  now,  that  steam  has  proven  a  success,  the  Legislature  will  most  likely  re- 
duce the  tolls  2  or  3  cents  on  the  bushel  of  grain  ;  will  bottom  out  the  canal  to 
7  and  8  feet  of  water;  will  lop  off  the  useless  lateral  canals  from  the  main 
trunk,  and  do  away  with  the  costly  and  expensive  weigh  locks,  and  by  so 
doing  enable  steafiiers  to  increase  their  speed  with  the  same  power,  and  trans- 
port wheat  from  Buffalo  to  New  York  at  from  5  to  6  cents  per  buShel  at  a 
profit.  We  thus  will  bring  New  York  within  10  days  of  Chicago,  by  water, 
and  give  you  transportation  at  about  10  cents  per  bushel  of  wheat. 

The  capacity  of  a  canal  is  determined  by  the  time  of  lockage,  or  the  num- 
ber of  boats  that  can  lock  in  a  given  time.  Now,  the  Baxter  steamers  can 
pass  through  a  lock  in  from  3  to  5  minutes.  This  would  allow  the  passage  of 
about  400  boats  per  day  (as  the  locks  are  all  double  on  the  Erie  Ca'nal),  and 
makes  it  possible  for  the  arrival  of  400  steam  canal  boats  in  New  York  each 
day  of  the  week,  each  of  which  would  be  loaded  with  grain,  and  each  boat 
carrjing  as  many  bushels  as  a  whole  train  of  cars  carries.  When  I  ask,  can 
the  New  York  Central,  the  Erie,  and  the  Pennsylvania  Central  Railroads  com- 
bined, deliver  400  trains  of  cars  loaded  with  grain  in  New  York  City  ?  Four 
hundred  boats  tian  carry  over  three  millions  bushels  of  grain,  which  in  weight 
is  about  ninety  thousand  tons.  All  this  is  possible  to  accomplish  on  the  Erie 
Canal  by  the  general  introduction  of  steam,  and  no  other  expense  to  the  State 
of  New  York  than  the  cost  of  clearing  out  the  debris  or  acretion  in  the  bottom 
of  the  caoal,  and  giving  the  steamers  the  legal  depth  of  7  feet  water  at  the 


64 

sides  and  8  feet  water  in  tbe  centre  of  the  canal  to  navigate  it.  New  York  is 
without  great  terminal  facilities.  Our  boats  furnish  these  facilities,  as  they 
hold  the  grain  until  sold,  and  deliver  direct  into,  the  ship  for  export,  thus 
saving  storage  and  an  extra  transfer,  and  doing  away  with  the  necessity  of 
grading,  as  the  identical  grain  shipped  in  Chicago  is  delivered  on  bill  of  lading 
in  New  York. 

In  1874  there  were  about  sixty  millions  bushels  of  grain  received  in  Buffalo, 
forty-five  millions  of  which  was  fonvarded  to  New  York  by  canal.  Buffalo 
has  already  elevator  facilities  and  capacity  to  handle,  and  has  repeatedly 
hahdled,  three  millions  bushels  of  grain  per  day.  So  you  see,  the  Great  Lakes 
and  the  Erie  Canal  route  are  on  the  eve  of  carrying  off  the  palm  for  cheap  and 
rapid  transportation.  And  I  now  say  to  you,  gentlemen  of  the  Convention, 
who  have  been  advocating  other  water  routes,  improve  those  routes  to  the 
proportion  of  the  Erie  Canal,  introduce  steam  generally  in  your  boats,  and 
you  will  secure  cheap  and  rapid  transportation. 

Mr.  Thurber  offered  the  following  preamble  and  resolution  : 

WTi^reas,  There  are  certain  parts  of  the  great  West,  whose  productions 
greatly  exceed  their  consumption,  which  are  entirely  dependent  upon  railroads 
for  transportation,  and  which  are  not  reached  by  any  of  the  proposed  plans 
for  internal  improvement  by  water  lines  ;  and. 

Whereas,  During  certain  seasons  of  the  year,  nearly  all  of  the  water  routes 
advocated  by  this  Convention  are  closed  by  ice,  for  periods  ranging  from  one 
to  five  months  ;  and 

Wfiereas,  For  certain  commercial  reasons,  among  which  may  be  mentioned 
time,  speed,  convenience  of  inte^-nal  distribution,  and  thefacilities  afforded  for 
turning  a  small  capital  often,  it  has  become  an  undisputed  fact  that  a  very 
large  part  of  the  grain  and  all  of  the  flour,  cut  meats,  live  stock,  and  the  great 
mass  of  miscellaneous  products  of  the*  country  are  now,  and  probably  will 
continue  to  be  carried  by  rail ;  therefore. 

Resolved,  That  while  the  sentiment  of  this  Convention  is  against  Government 
aid  to  corporations,  by  Avhich  such  frauds  and  scandals  as  that  of  the  Pacific 
Railroads  were  made  possible,  yet  the  urgent  need  of  the  country  for  railroad 
communication,  which  shall  be  free  from  the  evils  of  the  present  system,  is  such, 
that  if  means  can  be  devised  by  which  the  Government  can  be  secured  the  return 
of  aid  rendered,  and  have  such  a  voice  in  regulating  rates  of  carriage  that  it  will 
furnish  a  true  covipetition  with  the  present  defective  system,  we  are  in  favor  of 
such  aid  to  a  road,  from  the  grain-growing  sections  of  the  West  to  the  Atlantic 
seaboard.;  a  road  that  is  assured  a  large  business  from  the  start,  and  which 
will  afford  relief  to  the  people  of  a  large  and  densely  peopled  section  of  coun- 
try.    Referred. 

The  Committee  on  Change  of  Name  of  the  Association  reported  as  follows: 

John  F.  Henry,  Esq.  ,  Pi-csident : 

The  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  matter  of  changing 
the  title  of  this  Association,  unanimously  recommend  the  adoption  of  the 
title  "American  Board  of  Transportation  and  Commerce,"  which  after  dis- 
cussion was  adopted,  and  the  name  changed  to  '■'The  Ameiican  Board  of  Trans- 
portatmi  and  Commerced 

W.  S.  Fairfield,  Chaii-man. 


65 

Mr.  Caball  extended  an  invitation  to  the  delegates  to  take  an  excursion 
around  the  city,  as  the  guests  of  the  business  men  of  tiichmond,  which  was 
accepted. 

Mr.  Littler  offered  resolution :  "  Tliat  all  works  on  internal  improve- 
ments, which  are  to  be  paid  from  the  National  Treasury,  should  be  done  in 
sections,  by  contract,  to  the  lowest  bidders."    Carried. 

REPORT    OF    COMMITTBB  ON  ORGANIZATION. 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen 

of  the  American  Clieap  Transportation  Association  : 

Your  Committee  beg  leave  to  report  the  following  gentlemen  as  officers 
for  the  ensuing  year,  and  respectfully  ask  your  action  thereon  : 
For  President,  Hon.  Josiah  Quincy.     Vice-Presidents — 
1st.  Hon.  John  F.  Henry,  New  York. 
2d.  Charles  Francis  Adams,  Jr.,  Massachusetts. 
8d.  Gen.  C.  S.  Cabringtok,  Virginia. 
4th.  John  C.  Dore,  Illinois. 
5th.  J.  Nelson  Harris,  Kentucky. 
6th.  Hon.  Chas.  Pelham,  Alabama. 
7th.  Hon.  Geo.  Booth,  California. 
8th.  Gov.  A.  H.  Garland,  Arkansas. 
9th.  Col.  W.  H.  Greenwood,  Colorado. 
10th.  J.  G.  Bebrett,  District  of  Columbia. 
11th.   8.  L.  NiBLACK,  Florida. 
12th.  Hon.  J.  M.  Smith,  Georgia. 
13th.  H.  C.  Johnson,  Indiana. 
14th.  Col.  A.  B.  Smbdley,  Iowa. 
15th.  W.  M.  BuRWELL,  Louisiana. 
16th.  Stephenson  Archer,  Maryland. 
17th.  Hon.  Wm.  Windom,  Minnesota. 
18th.  Gen.  A.  J.  Vatjghan,  Mississippi. 
19th.  B.  R.  Bonner,  Missouri. 
20th.  Dudley  T.  Chase,  New  Hampshire. 
21st.  John  Jameson,  New  Jersey. 
22d.    Geo.  B.  Porter,  Nebraska. 
33d.    Z.  Vance,  Nortli  Carolina. 
34th.  D.  Wyat  Aiken,  South  Carolina. 
85th.  Wm.  Maxwell,  Tennessee. 
36th.  J.  G.  Blaine,  Maine. 
37th.  Lyman  G.  Hinckley,  Vermont. 
28th.  B.  M.  Kitchen,  West  Virgmia. 
29th.  Hon.  Mat.  Carpenter,  Wisconsin. 
30th.  Daniel  Clark,  Oregon. 
31st.    Hon  Jos.  Bailey,  Pennsylvania. 
33d.    John  Davis,  Kansas. 

Itj.k-.  '  1  ]  ]  ]  j»i.i>i.ciE,  Oliio. 
34th.  J.  B.  Johnson,  Texas. 
35th.  A.  H.  Milroy,  Washington  Territory. 


66 

36th.  E.  B.  Crbws,  Dokota, 

37th.  F.  C.  Capreol,  Canada. 

38th.  Myer  Fiske,  (Helena),  Montana. 

39th.  Gov.  Jewell,  Connecticut. 

40th.  Hon.  Elisha  Dyer,  Khode  Island. 

41st.   Hon.  R.  C.  McCormick,  Arizona. 

42d.    Gov.  Cochrane,  Delaware. 

Treasurer. — F.  B.  Thurber,  New  York. 

Secretary.— R.  H.  Fergubon,  Troy,  N.  Y. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

ROBT.  M.  LITTLER, 

Chavrman  of  Committee. 
Report  unanimously  adopted. 

Mr.  Dearing,  of  Kentucky,  offered  the  following  : 

Eesolved,  That  a  committee,  consisting  of  Hon.  Jos.  Utley,  of  Illinois ; 
Waldo  M.  Potter,  of  Iowa  ;  B.  W.  Frobel,  of  Georgia;  C.  S.  Carrington,  of 
Virginia  ;  J.  Wilson  Harris,  of  Kentucky  ;  be  appointed  by  this  Convention  to 
personally  attend  and  urge  upon  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  at  the  en- 
suing session,  their  early  action  in  executing  tlie  conclusions  of  the  Senate 
Committee  as  andorsed  by  this  Convention. 

Mr.  Thurber  moved  its  reference  to  Committee  on  Resolutions.  So  re 
f  erred. 

Mr.  Dork  offered  the  following  :  , 

Whereas,  the  State  of  New  York  has  been  reimbursed  by  tolls  for  the  ex 
pense  of  its  construction  of  the  Erie  Canal ; 

And,  whereas  the  State  has  also  received  incalculable  benefits  by  the  facil- 
ties  of  transport  which  the  canal  has  afforded,  such  as  making  tiie  interior  of 
the  State  accessible  before  the  era  of  railroads,  and  contributing  mainly  to  the 
building  up  of  the  flourishing  cities  of  Syracuse,  Rochester,  and  many  others; 
Therefore,  Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  Convention,  justice  to  the 
other  States,  both  east  and  west,  the  tolls  on  the  Erie  Canal  should  be  reduced 
to  such  rates  as  will  be  sufficient  to  pay  current  expenses  and  keep  the  same- 
in  repair.  And  this  Convention  respectfully  commend  the  reduction  of  tolls 
on  the  Erie  Canal  to  the  favorable  consideration  of  the  Legislature  of  the 
State  of  New  York.  Resolved,  That  a  Committee  of  three  be  appointed  by 
the  Chair  to  present  the  above  Resolutions  to  the  State  of  New  York  at  its 
next  Session,  and  to  urge  the  Legislature  to  adopt  the  recommendation. 

Mr.  Thurber  said  :  We  have  been  at  work  in  New  York  for  three  years 
to  dispose  of  the  lateral  canals,  and  hope  to  succeed.  He  would  favor  such  a 
resolution  however.    Referred. 

Mr.  Merwin  offered  preamble  and  resolution.  He  hoped  the  recom- 
mendations of  this  Convention  would  receive  the  favorable  consideration  of 
Congress.  The  prosperity  of  the  east  depends  on  these  measures  ;  cheap  food 
is  needed,  and  cheap  transportation  will  secure  it  for  the  east.  As  to  railroads 
and  water  routes,  there  is  national  division  ;  the  productions  of  the  soil,  as  a 
rule,  must  seek  water  transportation  ;  but  mercantile  productions,  as  a  rule, 
must  seek  the  rail.  Time  is  money  ;  speedy  transit  is  needed  ;  but  we  must 
have  such  nnder  proper  restrictions.     Railways  are  now   our  masters.     Bnt 


6^ 

the  people  must  be  the  masters  of  the  corporations.  How/  is  this  to  be  ac- 
complished ?  By  competition.  The  remedy  is  in  our  hands.  We  should 
rise  up  determined  to  prevent  the  oppression:  at  present.  No  man  has  mani« 
fested  more  talent  than  Vanderbilt.  He  is  father  of  the  great  railroad  of  the 
world.  While  undoubtedly  that  road  has  watered  its  stock  they  have  done 
much  to  improve  the  road  and  benefit  the  country  ;  and  yet  they  have  not 
the  facilities  we  require.  It  can  deliver  only  51J:  cars  per  day  in  New  York. 
City  ;  but  a  tithe  of  what  we  need.     The  resolutions  were  referred. 


Friday  Evening,  Dec.  4,  1874. 

Mr.  Henry,  in  the  chair. 

The  Chair  said  a  report  from  the  Committee  on  Terminal  Facilities  was 
in  order. 

Mr.  T.  F.  Lees,  of  New  York,  said  : 

Mr.  President  :  The  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Terminal  Facilities 
is  not  present  at  this  Convention,  an  affliction  at  home  having  prevented  his 
attendance.  It  is  to  be  regretted  tliat  no  other  member  of  the  Committee  is 
prepared  to  report  on  this  very  important  subject,  constituting  as  it  does  the 
connecting  link  between  our  system  of  inland  transportation  and  our  foreign 
commerce.  During  the  past  year  the  subject  of  Terminal  Facilities  has  com- 
manded increased  attention,  and  the  seaboard  cities  have  very  generally  awak- 
ened to  the  necessity  of  improving  their  means  of  receiving  and  transferring 
produce  and  merchandise,  in  order  that  the  connection  between  the  various 
inland  lines  of  transportation  and  the  ships  at  our  wharves,  may  be  speedy,  easy 
and  cheap.  In  fact,  Mr.  President,  it  is  a  question  whether  our  transportation 
system  should  terminate  at  the  wharves  of  New  York,  Boston,  Philadelphia, 
Baltimore,  and  other  seaboard  cities,  or  whether  there  should  be  continuous 
lines  from  the  producing  regions  of  the  West  to  the  foreign  markets  to  which  we 
export  and  from  which  we  import.  To-day,  I  received  from  Mr.  John  Roach, 
the  well-known  American  ship-builder,  a  communication  of  great  interest  and 
bearingtdirectly  upon  the  relations  of  inland  transportation  and  foreign  com- 
merce.    With  the  consent  of  this  Convention,  I  will  read  it  : 

Morgan  Iron  Works,     > 
New  York,  Dec.  1st,  1874.  \ 
Theodore  F.  Lees,  Esq. : 

Dear  Sir  :  I  desire  to  express  to  yourself  and  to  the  gentlemen  of  the  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  of  the  American  Cheap  Transportation  Association  my 
lieartythanks  for  the  courtesy  of  the  invitation  extended  to  me  in  your  favor 
of  27tti  ult.,  and  to  add  my  sincere  regrets  that  the  shortness  of  the  time 
allotted  for  preparation  and  the  imperative  nature  of  my  own  business  en- 
gagements will  prevent  me  from  complying  with  your  very  complimentary  re- 
quest as  I  would  wish. 

Especially  do  I  regret  the  obvious  impossibility  of  supplying,  on  the  in- 
stant, the  statistical  data  which  would  illustrate,  although  they  may  be  unne- 
cessarj^  to  establish,  the  correctness  of  the  views  which  I  shall  attempt  briefly 
to  present. 

I  congratulate  myself,  however,  on  the  privilege  of  thus  addi-essiug  an 
Association  of  gentlemen  whose  individual  experience  and  observation  so  ad- 


mirably  prepare  t^em  to  supply  such  matters  of  more  minute  detail  as  I  may 
be  forced  to  omit. 

I  need  hardly  say  that  I  thoroughly  agree  with  you  and  j^our  associates  in 
regarding  the  question  of  "  Cheap  Transportation "  as  second  to  none  of 
those  which  imperatively  deanand  of  us  an  immediate  solution. 

The  agricultural  and  other  producing  interests  of  the  United  States  are 
paying,  at  this  present  time,  over  and  above  the  curious  complication  of  im- 
posts provided  for  by  Statute  Laws,  three  separate  sets  of  taxes  :  one  to  fraud, 
one  to  waste,  and  a  third  to  culpable  mismanagement,  if  I  may  be  permitted 
thus  t©  personify  the  causes  of  our  admitted  financial  weakness. 

No  other  nationality  embraces  within  its  territorial  limits  such  a  measure- 
less variety  of  production;  no  other  possesses  a  more  intell^ent,  industrious 
and  enterprising  population  ;  no  other  has  so  highly  developed  the  use  of 
labor-saving  machinery  ;  no  other  can  boast  a  more  extended  and  available 
system  of  communicatian  and  transportation,  and  yet  in  no  other  is  there  so 
wide  and  so  preposterous  a  margin  between  the  prices  received  by  the  producer 
and  the  prices  paid  by  the  consumer. 

I  am  willing  for  the  present  to  leave  for  those  among  you  who  are  abler 
and  better  fitted  than  myself,  the  elucidation  of  the  methods  by  which  we 
have  succeded  in  placing  ourselves  at  the  mercy  of  cunning  and  unscrupulous 
monopolies  of  home  production,  and  even  of  the  native  foreign  monstrosities 
which  control  so  many  of  our  transportation  interests,  although  no  man  has 
watched  with  a  more  bitter  disgust  the  successful  hypocrisy  with  which  our 
legislative  bodies,  national,  state  and  municipal,  have  been  besieged  by  specu- 
lative adventurers  who  have  robbed  us  so  unmercifully  under  the  pretense  of 
serving  us. 

I  would  only  state  my  profound  belief  that  the  sure  logic  of  events  and 
the  operation  of  natural  laws  will,  in  due  time,  all  the  sooner,  if  good  men  do 
their  duty,  leave  the  people  in  practical  possession  and  untrammelled  use  of 
the  improvements  which  they  themselves  have  paid  for. 

You  have  asked  me  to  give  my  view  of  the  relations  between  "  ocean 
transportation  "  and  "  inland  transportation,"  and  I  can  hardly  do  so  more 
succinctly  than  by  denying  that  our  commercial  border,  boundary  line,  fron- 
tier, or  whatever  it  may  be  called,  is  to  be  found  at  high-water  mark  on  all  our 
geographical  outlines.  It  is  a  most  debasing  and  ruinous  superstition,  that 
Europe  begins,  even  before  the  shores  of 'America  are  out  of  sight,  and  yet 
this  is  the  theory  upon  which  we  are  operating. 

A  bushel  of  wheat  from  Chicago  or  a  bale  of  cotton  from  St.  Louis,  if  its 
market  is  in  Liverpool,  is  but  half  way  to  its  destination  when  it  has  reached 
tide-water. 

We  deceive  ourselves  wkenever  we  begin  to  regard  inland  and  ocean  trans- 
portation as  separate  interests. 

It  is  true,  indeed,  that  the  line  of  canal  and  railway  which  discharges  its 
freight  at  New  York  or  Baltimore,  for  instance,  into  a  foreign  bottom,  has  then 
and  there  found  its  natural  terminus;  but  if  an  American  line  of  steamers  were 
ready  to  take  that  same  freight,  the  actual  terminus  would  be  instead  at  the  port 
of  whatever  European  or  other  country  the  cargo  should  be  discharged.  It  is 
self  evident  that  "inland   transportation"  and  "ocean   transportation"  are 


parts  of  our  great  interest,  needing  only  joint  ownership — that  is,  American 
ownership — for  their  complete  unification. 

Then  separation,  as  at  present  permitted,  is  an  unnatural,  exceptional,  and, 
I  sincerely  hope,  a  temporary  condition.  Let  me  attempt  to  give  my  reasons 
for  the  hope  which  I  have  thus  expressed. 

There  was  a  time,  prior  to  our  great  civil  war  and  its  unparalleled  de- 
rangements of  all  the  economies  of  our  political  and  commercial  system,  when 
we  performed  our  own  extra-territorial  freight  carrying  fully  and  completely. 
Whatever  disabilities  our  productive  interests  were  compelled  to  submit  to 
could  be  readily  and  directly  traced  to  other  and  distinct  causes. 

The  construction,  maintenance  and  general  expense  accounts  of  our  ocean- 
going marine,  comprehending  ninety  per  cent.,  more  or  less,  of  its  gross  earn- 
ings, were  disbursed  among  our  own  people,  and  the  consequences  to  our  na- 
tional wealth  need  only  be  referred  to,  for  you  are  only  too  familiar  with  them. 

The  termini  of  what  were  then  our  great  arteries  of  transportation  were  at 
the  wharves  of  trans- Atlantic  marts. 

Then  came  a  period,  born  of  our  great  struggle  for  life  with  the  Rebel- 
lion, when  we  ceased  to  build  ships  for  commercial  purposes  and  when  those 
which  we  had  already  constructed  disappeared  from  the  seas  or  passed  under 
foreign  flags  and  into  the  control  of  foreign  owners. 

During  this  period  occurred  a  great  revolution  in  naval  construction — from 
wood  to  u-on  in  the  material  employed,  and  from  side-wheels  to  screw  propel- 
lers in  the  application  of  propelling  power. 

Of  this  revolution  we  were,  until  lately,  unable  to  avail  ourselves.  We  had 
neither  the  necessary  ship-yards,  mills  and  other  mechanical  appliances,  nor 
had  we  so  developed  our  national  resources  as  to  be  able  to  compete  with  Eu- 
ropean builders  in  cost  of  construction.  We  had  even  taught  ourselves  to  be- 
lieve that  our  slavery  was  necessarily  perpetual,  and  that  it  was  right  and  nat- 
ural for  Europe  to  begin  on  the  Hudson,  the  Delaware,  the  Mississippi  and  on 
the  very  beach  of  Massachusetts  Bay. 

We  have  been  learning  better,  of  late,  the  lessons  which  our  inexhaustible 
mines  and  forests  and  our  unequaled  natural  advantages  for  naval  construction 
have  so  plainly  presented  to  us  ;  we  have  to-day  the  ship-yards,  the  skill,  all 
the  needed  appliances  ;'we  only  require  the  courage  and  the  enterprise  to  em- 
ploy them. 

I  will  not  weary  you  with  a  rehearsal  of  the  number  and  tonnage  of  the 
foreign  steamships  now  engaged  in  the  carrying  trade  to  and  from  the  ports  of  the 
United  States,  or  even  by  dwelling  upon  the  vastness  of  the  pecuniary  prize 
held  out  to  American  ship-building  enterprize,  but  I  will  dwell  for  a  brief 
space,  and  with  your  permission,  on  a  few  points  which  seem  to  me  to  carry 
this  subject  home  to  the  pocket  and  the  fireside  of  every  American  citizen. 

The  first  is,  that  so  long  as  the  ocean  highways  are  under  European  con- 
trol, the  wise,  politic  and  long-headed  commercial  magnates  who  direct  their 
current  use,  will  open  by  their  means  to  American  trade,  production  and  de- 
mand, only  such,  and  no  other  of  the  world's  markets,  as  may  to  them  seem 
profitable  to  their  interests.  Nor  even  in  these  will  they,  or  do  they,  award 
us  full  and  free  competition. 

Every  South  American  mart  will  continue  as  nearly  closed  as  they  all  are 
at  present.    We  shall  have  an  advantageous  connection  with  only  so  much  of 


70 

Asia  as  may  be  permitted  by  the  occasions  of  European  capital,  and  Europe 
will  struggle  with  us  relcutlessly  and  bitterly  for  any  part  thereof  which  we 
may  have  independently  attained. 

The  same  is  literally  true,  to-day,  of  our  connection  with  all  the  ports  o- 
Europe,  and  our  Atlantic  freights  go  up  or  down  without  any  shadow  of 
reference  to  the  requirements  of  American  "  cheap  transportation." 

We  can  only  determine  when,  how,  and  to  what  ports,  we  will  ship  that 
surplus  of  our  production  which  governs,  by  its  proceeds,  the  condition  of  our 
home  markets  ;  and  we  can  only  say  where  we  will  make  our  purchases,  when 
we  deliver  ourselves  from  foreign  dictation,  by  laying  our  own  keels  and 
mounting  our  own  flag  above  them. 

Looking  in  this  direction,  it  will  at  once  be  seen,  that  if  we  were  to  suc- 
ceed in  devising  and  carrying  into  practical  operation  the  most  perfect  system 
of  "  cheap  transportation  "  possible,  within  our  own  territorial  limits,  as  we 
have  now  commercially  defined  them,  our  reformed  tarifl"  of  freights  would 
continue  to  be  met,  at  the  seaboard,  with  another — an  independent,  a  conflict- 
ing tariff — prepared  to  take  full  advantage  of  us  and  of  the  condition  of  our 
own  and  foreign  markets,  promptly  and  greedily  annulling,  so  far  as  our 
profits  were  concerned,  whatever  commercial  opportunities  the  course  of 
events  might  offer. 

There  is  but  one  way  in  which  we  can  protect  ourselves  from  the  growing 
power  and  increasing  centralization,  so  to  speak,  of  the  vast  combination  which 
now  controls  alike  the  trade  and  the  transportation  interests  of  the  old  world, 
and  that  is  by  procm-ing  to  ourselves  an  ample  tonnage,  which  shall  be  surely 
and  ably  competitive  with  their  own. 

Another  point  which  I  would  urge  is  this  : 

The  gravest  error  of  all,  for  it  is  one  which  narrow-minded  demagogues, 
ignorant  alike  of  commercial  history  and  political  economy,  are  able  to  defend 
and  to  augment  with  the  most  fatal  facility,  is  the  idea  that  the  slavery  of  our 
commerce  is  a  matter  which  concerns  our  producing  and  mercantile  communi- 
ty only  as  individual  citizens,  and  not  as  the  commonwealth,  in  our  aggregate 
capacity  as  a  compact  national  entity. 

One  source  of  this  error,  as  of  others  already  suggested,  is  the  false  idea 
that  our  rights  and  responsibilities,  as  a  commercial  nation,  terminate  at  tide- 
water. We  have  strained  to  the  uttermost  our  national  power,  in  its  mbst 
concentrated  and  effective  form,  rather  than  part  with  one  inch  of  our  geo- 
graphical limits,  as  given  by  the  common  school  maps  ;  we  have  poured  forth 
our  blood  and  treasure  like  water,  rather  than  surrender  to  anj'  otlier  than  our 
own  national  government,  the  control  of  our  great  north  and  south  lines  of  in- 
land transportation.  And  j'et,  witli  singular  perversity  of  understanding,  we 
permit  the  hardly  less  important,  and  equally  sacred  national  birthright  of  an 
honorable  share  and  part  in  the  God-ordained  uses  of  the  high  seas,  to  be  rent 
from  us  by  the  European  "  Wreckers,"  who  took  advantage  of  our  hour  of 
strife  and  agon3^  There  will  be  no  restoration  of  "  the  Union  as  it  was,"  un- 
til the  nation  discovers  this  part  of  its  national  loss,  and  insists  on  the  restora- 
tion of  this  inestimable  part  of  that  which  has  seceded  from  under  the  Stars 
and  Stripes. 

There  is  yet  another  reason  why  we  cannot  afford  to  commit  the  determin- 
ation of  this  most  important  national  question  altogether  to  the  timidity  of 


71  . 

private  capital  or  the  caprice  of  private  enterprise,  for  in  yet  another  manner 
are  the  welfare  and  honor  of  the  nation  perilously  at  stake.  If,  as  a  matter  of 
preference  or  indifference,  we  are  still  willing  to  pay  to  foreign  ship  owners 
our  yearly  tax  of  $130,000,000,  gold,  for  the  maintenance  of  this,  our  great 
commercial  disgrace,  so  long  as,  after  all,  our  ocean-carrying  trade  is  performed 
for  us,  in  some  shape,  what  shall  the  nation  say  to  itself,  to  its  citizens,  to  the 
derisive  laughter  of  the  world,  whenever  the  great  convulsion  of  European 
political  affairs,  so  freely  prophesied  by  every  leading  trans- Atlantic  statesman, 
shall  have  left  the  ship-owning  nationalities  of  the  old  world  without  a  neutral 
flag  upon  the  ocean  ? 

What  if  only  England  and  Germany  or  France  shall  be  withdrawn  ?  Who 
then  will  carry  our  exports  or  bring  us  our  imports  ?  Who  then  will  gather 
for  us  the  harvest  of  the  world's  freightage,  which  then  ought  to  be  ours,  as 
European  wars  have  made  it  more  than  once  before  this  ? 

The  storm  I  speak  of  may  come  at  any  hour  of  the  day  or  night  ;  it  may 
be  near  and  it  may  be  long  delayed  ;  but  that  it  will  come,  eventually,  is 
among  the  sure  prophecies  of  unwritten  histoiy. 

The  question  of  our  mail  transportation  ;  our  diplomatic  connections;  the 
stagnation  of  our  exchanges,  home  and  foreign  ;  the  alternate  glut  and  impov- 
erishment of  our  markets  ;  the  universal  derangement  of  our  finances ;  the 
loss  ;  the  suffering  ;  the  ruin  ;  the  dishonor  :  it  seems  to  me  that  the  contem- 
plation of  all  these  might  elevate  the  subject  of  American  ship-building,  of 
American  ocean  transportation,  to  that  rank  whose  immediate  and  pressing  im- 
portance calls  upon  the  nation,  as  such,  and  in  its  aggregate  strength  and  ca- 
pacity, to  take  hold  thereof  with  a  vigorous  and  masterly  hand.  We  have  no 
right  to  neglect  it  for  a  day. 

Finally,  in  concluding  this  necessarily  hurried  and  incomplete  presenta- 
tion of  a  subject  so  near  my  heart,  as  I  hope  it  may  be  to  your  own,  I  beg  leave 
to  urge  upon  yourself  and  the  eminently  intelligent  gentlemen  of  your  Associ- 
ation, that  any  discussion  of  "  cheap  transportation,"  which  does  not  take  in 
the  sea  as  well  as  the  shore,  is  necessarily  incomplete,  short-sighted  and  un- 
worthy. 

The  time  being  so  short  prevents  me  from  giving  you  figures  and  details  : 
I  will  only  say  the  small  portion  of  the  carrying  capacity  of  vessels  under  our 
flag,  in  proportion  to  the  enormous  amount  of  tonnage  engaged  in  our  foreign 
exports  and  imports,  leaves  us  at  the  mercies  of  foreign  ship-owners.        * 

I  have  the  honor  to  be. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

JOHN  ROACH. 

Upon  the  conclusion  of  the  above  communication,  which  was  well  received 
by  the  Convention, 

Mr.  Bbtdges,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions,  announced  that" 
the  Committee  had  completed  their  work  and  were  now  ready  to  report  a 
series  of  resolutions  embodying  the  views  of  the  Convention,  and,  on  motion, 
they  were  made  the  special  order. 

Besolved,  That  the  great  and  pressing  need  of  the  country  is  free  and  unre- 


72 

stricted  trade  between  the  States;  that  this  result  can  only  be  reached  by  fur- 
nishing the  means  of  a  cheap  interchange  among  ourselves  of  the  varied  pro- 
ducts of  the  different  sections,  and  to  do  this  it  is  necess^y  to  promote  every 
legitimate  means  which  will  tend  to  lessen  the  cost  of  internal  transportation. 

Unsolved,  That  we  can  never  reach  the  highest  state  of  prosperity  until  our 
foreign  commerce  is  restored.  To  do  this  we  must  not  only  have  free  and  un- 
obstructed outlets  from  the  interior  to  the  sea,  but  the  ability  to  produce 
cheaply.  This  will  enable  us  to  compete  successfully  in  the  markets  of  the 
world,  and  will  give  us  the  most  certain  protection  of  all  that  ability  to  com- 
pete. To  do  this,  cheap  food  must  be  supplied  to  the  manufacturer,  the  miner, 
and  to  every  other  interest  that  needs  it;  and  all  these  great  interests  must  be 
brought  together  into  an  alliance,  the  benefits  of  which  will  be  mutual.  This 
can  only  be  done  by  the  inauguration  of  that  free  trade  between  the  States, 
which  cheap  transportation  alone  will  afford,  and  the  adoption  of  such  a  sys- 
tem as  will  give  us,  in  all  the  markets  of  the  world,  the  free  trade  of  sicccessful 
coinpetitwn .  To  do  this  we  must  at  once  look  to  our  great  highways  of  trade, 
whether  these  be  by  river,  or  lake,  or  canal  or  ocean,  or  any  other  means.  So 
long  as  high  protectiye  tariffs  are  necessary  to  enable  our  manufacturers  to 
compete  in  the  home  markets,  they  can  never  hope  for  a  successful  competi 
tion  elsewhere,  and  since  our  commercial  prosperity  is  dependent  upon  such 
competition,  it  becomes  the  duty  of  Congress  to  give  us  the  means  of  accom 
plishing  this  with  as  little  delay  as  possible. 

Resolved,  That  while  we  possess  the  wealth  of  the  field,  the  forest  and  the 
mine,  in  such  profusion  as  the  hand  of  Providence  alone  bestows,  they  are  all 
comparatively  valueless,  because  we  fail  to  bring  them  into  close  alliance  and 
afford  them  an  outlet  to  the  markets  of  the  world ;  that  by  this  neglect  we  give 
protection  to  the  grain  growers  of  Russia  against  our  farmers  of  the  West ; 
to  the  manufacturers  of  Great  Britain  against  those  of  New  England;  to  the 
miners  of  Scotland  and  Wales  against  those  of  the  United  States;  and  the  cotton 
growers  of  India  and  Brazil  against  the  planters  of  the  South.  This  is  why 
the  balance  of  trade  is  so  largely  against  us,  and  affords  the  true  reason  why 
this  vast  product,  needed  by  all  the  world,  is  wasting  and  worthless  upon  our 
hands,  and  we  are  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  a  paper  currency,  which  is  at  a 
discount  aS  compared  with  gold  at  home,  and  of  diminished  commercial  value 
abroad.  This  is  why  our  manufactories  and  mills  are  idle,  why  thousands  of 
our  people  are  without  employment,  and  why  a  fearful  commercial  and  busi- 
ness stagnation  broos  over  the  landd. 

Let  Congress  adopt  such  measures  as  will  enable  us  to  place  these  pro- 
ducts upon  a  profitable  market  and  the  business  stagnation  will  end,  the  bal- 
ance of  trade  be  restored,  gold  will  once  more  flow  back  to  us  instead  of  away 
from  us,  as  in  years  past,  and  the  necessity  of  high  protective  tariffs,  which 
have  always  engendered  strife  and  bitterness,  will  no  longer  be  felt  in  the  better 
protection  which  this  free  trade  among  our  industrial  pursuits  will  afford. 

Ttesolved,  That  the  presence  of  a  metallic  currency  is  the  result  of  com- 
)nercial  prosperity,  and  not  the  cause  of  that  prosperity.  To  restore  this  cir- 
culation it  is  only  necessary  for  us  to  supply  the  means  of  exporting  our  grain 
and  flour  and  bacon  and  corn  and  tobacco  and  cotton  at  prices  which  will 
enable  us  to  sell  these  products  in  the  markets  of  other  countries.  This  will 
give  us  commercial  prosperity,  and  its  evidence  will  be  gold  circulation ;  with 


id 

its  return  our  present  paper  currency  will  disappear,  and  a  sound  currency  be 
restored,  without  destroying  any  of  our  great  interests. 

Resolved,  That  Congress  should,  at  its  coming  session,  not  only  provide 
the  means  for  the  construction  of  the  great  water  routes  recommended  by  the 
Senate's  Committee,  but  should  adopt  such  other  means  of  securing  to  the 
whole  country  tJvis  (jreat  boon  of  cheap  transportation  as  the  necessities  of  the 
people  require. 

Resolved,  That  we  have  no  warfare  to  make  upon  any  of  the  great  industries 
of  the  country,  but,  on  the  contrary,  the  very  object  of  this  Convention  is  to 
promote  peace  and  harmony  amongst  them,  and  to  devise  the  means  for  their 
further  development.  As  the  offices  of  all  the  members  of  the  human  body 
are  essential  to  its  perfect  vitality  and  vigor,  so  all  these  interests  are  just  as 
essential  to  a  country  that  would  be  great  and  prosperous,  It  is  the  true  in- 
terest, then,  of  all  to  promote  the  interest  of  each  other,  and  our  best  policy 
will  be  found  iu  a  re-union  of  all  the  great  industries  of  the  land  for  the  sake 
of  national  prosperity. 

RECOMMENDATIONS  OP  WATER  ROUTES. 

Resolved,  That  this  Convention  recommend  that  the  construction  of  the 
water  routes  recommended  by  the  United  States  Senate  Committee  on  trans- 
portation routes  be  speedily  undertaken,  or  such  of  them  as  promise  the  most 
favorable  results,  and  that  in  addition  to  the  lines  of  transportation  recom- 
mended by  the  United  States  Senate  Committee,  this  Convention  recognizes 
the  proposed  Rock  Island  and  Hennepin  Canal,  in  the  State  of  Illinois,  con- 
necting the  Mississippi  River  with  the  Illinois  River  and  Canal,  and  the  chain 
of  water  ways  to  the  seaboard,  as  a  project  of  great  merit,  promising  materially 
to  cheapen  the  cost  of  transporting  the  grain  of  the  North-West  to  the  markets 
of  the  world,  and  we  therefore  respectfully  urge  upon  Congress  the  necessity 
of  the  speedy  construction  of  this  work. 

REGULATIONS  OF  ODR  RAILWAY  SYSTEM. 

Resolved,  That  we  recommend  the  several  States  to  enact  the  following 
laws  for  the  regulation  of  our  Railway  system. 

1.  A  law  to  prevent  stock  inflations,  similar  to  the  one  now  in  operation  in 
Massachusetts. 

2.  A  law  providing  for  the  posting  or  publication  at  every  point  of  ship- 
ment, a  schedule  of  rates  and  fares,  embracing  all  particulars  regarding  dis- 
tance, classifications,  rates,  special  tariffs,  drawbacks,  etc.,  and  prohibiting  the 
increase  of  such  rates  above  the  limit  named  in  the  schedule,  without  giving 
the  public  reasonable  notice. 

3.  A  law  prohibiting  officers  or  directors  of  railways  from  either  directly 
or  m.lirectly,  owning  or  becoming  interested  in  any  manner,  in  any  non-co5p- 
erative  fast  freight  line  or  car  company,  or  from  being  interested  in  any  man- 
ner in  the  furnishing  of  supplies  to  any  company  with  which  they  may  have 
official  connection. 

4.  A  law  prohibiting  unjust  discriminations  in  rates  against  places  which 
are  not  competing  points.  , 

5.  A  law  making  it  a  penal  offense  for  any  public  official  to  accept  or  us^ 


74r 

the  free  pass  of  any  railway  company,  and  prohibiting  railway  companies  from 
granting  such  passes  to  any  hut  regular  employees  of  such  railways. 

(i.  A  law  providing  that  all  common  carriers  shall  receipt  for  quantitj^ 
whether  it  be  of  grain  or  other  commodities,  and  deliver  the  same  at  its  desti- 
nation. 

7.  A  law  prohibiting  representatives  of  the  people  who  belong  to  the  legal 
profession,  from  being  retained  on  either  side  in  cases  where  the  public  inter- 
est is  involved. 

8.  We  also  recommend  that  Congress  enact  such  of  the  above  mentioned 
laws  as  come  within  its  powers,  and  apply  to  inter-State  coiporalions. 

9.  That  each  State  enact  a  law  creating  a  Board  of  Railway  Commission- 
•ers,  whose  duties  shall  be  to  obtain,  preserve  and  circulate  information  relat- 
ing to  transportation,  and  recommend  to  their  respective  Legislatures  such 
messures  as  the  welfare  of  the  public  demand.    , 

Resolved,  That  we  deem  it  of  very  great  importance  that  the  United  States 
create  a  Department  of  Commerce  in  which  should  be  a  Bureau  of  Transporta- 
tion for  the  collection,  preservation  and  dissemination  of  information  bearing 
upon  our  vast  internal  and  foreign  commerces. 

Resolved,  That  inasmuch  as  we  must  look  to  competition  as  a  means  of 
remedying  many  of  the  abuses  of  the  present  system,  that  the  United  States 
Government  should  favor  the  measures  which  promise  the  best  results  looking 
to  that  end,  and  in  addition  to  the  water  lines  recommended,  if  means  can  be 
DEVISED  by  which  the  Government  can  be  secured  from  a  recurrence  of  the 
•  frauds  and  scandals  such  as  attended  the  Pacific  Railroad  subsidies,  and  have 
such  control  in  regulating  rates  of  carriage  as  will  give  a  trae  competition,  w-e 
commend  to  the  careful  consideration  of  Congress  the  propriety  of  construct- 
ing an  exclusive  freight  railroad  from  the  grain-growing  sections  of  the  West 
to  the  Atlantic  Seaboard,  to  the  end  that  this  great  territory,  with  its  dense 
population,  may  not  be  wholly  at  the  mei'cy  of  existing  railways  when  water 
routes  are  closed  by  ice. 

Resolved,  That  a  Committee  of  five  consisting  of  Joseph  Utley,  of  Illinois; 
Waldo  M.  Potter,  of  Iowa;  B.  W.  Frobel,  of  Georgia;  C.  J.  Carrington,  of 
Virginia,  and  Nelson  Harris,  of  Kentucky,  be  appointed  by  this  Convention 
to  memorialize  and  to  personally  attend  and  urge  upon  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  at  its  ensuing  session,  their  early  action  in  executing  the  con- 
clusions of  the  United  States  Senate  Committee  on  transportation  routes 
which  have  been  endorsed  by  this  Convention. 

Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  Convention,  justice  to  the  other 
States,  both  East  and  West,  requires  that  tolls  on  the  Erie  Canal  should  be  ma- 
terially reduced,  approximating  such  rates  as  will  be  only  sufficient  to  pay  cur- 
rent expenses  and  keep  the  same  in  repair;  and  this  Convention  respectfully 
recommends  the  reduction  of  tolls  on  the  Erie  Canal"  to  the  favorable  consider- 
ation of  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

Resolved,  That  Messrs.  Dore,  of  Illinois;  Potter,  of  Iowa;  Thurber,  of 
New  York,  and  Dobbins,  of  Buffalo,  be  appointed  a  Committee  to  present  the 
above  resolution  to  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York  at  its  next 
session,  and  to  urge  them  to  adopt  the  recommendations  therein  contained. 

The  resolutions  as  reported  by  the  Committee  were  unanimously  adopted. 


79 

Mr.  Ingebsoll  offered  the  following  : 

Resolved,  That  the  earnest  thanks  of  this  Convention  are  most  cordially 
tendered  to  the  citizens  of  Richmond  for  their  universal  and  gratifying  hospi-- 
tality,  and  that  the  members  of  this  Convention  desire  to  express  their  appre- 
ciation of  this  kindness,  and  to  assure  the  people  of  RichmonJ  that  the  repre- 
seutatives  of  the  people  of  all  portions  of  the  country  here  assembled  Wiill 
forever  remember  their  sojourn  in  Richmond  with  unalloyed  pleasure  and 
unmixed  gratification. 

Carried. 

The  Chair  said  more  than  a  dozen  of  us  had  such  resolutions  in  our 
pockets  ready  to  present. 

Mr.  Lees  :  Before  adjournment  this  Convention  should  perform  what  I 
know  is  an  agreeable  duty.  The  Young  Mens'  Christian  Association,  of  Rich- 
mond, have  given  us  the  use  of  this  excellent  hall,  with  several  committee 
rooms,  and  have  declined  compensation  for  their  use.  Mr.  Edwards,  the 
•President,  and  Miss  Woods,  Asst.  Librarian,  have  extended  numerous  cour- 
tesies, entitled  to  a  hearty  acknowledgement. 

He  rnoved  that  the  thanks  of  the  Convention  be  tendered  the  Young 
Mens'  Christian  Association,  of  Richmond.     Carried  with  applause. 

Mr.  Littler  offered  the  following  : 

Whereas,  Believing  that  the  interests  of  the  entire  producing  classes  of  the 
nation  call  for  cheaper  transportation;  therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  That  every  delegate,  as  member  of  the  Convention,  consider 
himself  a  Committee  of  One,  and  ever  be  on  the  alert  to  accomplish  such  a 
desirable  result,  thereby  proving  their  faith  by  their  works. 

Adopted. 

Mr.  Bridgks  moved  that  the  standing  Committees  be  appointed  by  the 
Chair.     Carried. 

The  Chair  stated  that  it^  would  take  some  time  to  make  a  proper  selection 
of  these  Committees,  and  asked  if  it  suited  the  pleasure  of  the  Convention 
that  he  be  allowed  to  select  them  at  his  leisure  and  announce  them  in  the 
printed  proceedings. 

Mr.  Littler  moved  that  the  Chairman  be  allowed  to  appoint  the  Standing 
Committees  at  his  leisure.     Carried." 

On  motion  adjourned  m,ne  die,  10.46  P.  M. 

December  4,  1874. 

The  following  Standing  Committees  have  since  been  appointed,  in  pur- 
suance of  the  above  resolution  : 

Railroads — 

P.  B.  Thtjrber,  New  York. 
Colonel  A.  B.  Smedlet,  Iowa. 
S.  R.  Moore,  Illinois. 
J.  Nelson  Harris,  Kentucky. 
P.  C.  Johnson,  Indiana. 


76 


Terminal  Fadlitus — 

B.  P.  Baker,  New  York. 
W.  C.  Flagg,  Illinois. 
Franklin  Stearns,  "Virginia. 
JosiAH  QuiNCY,  Massachusetts. 
John  C.  Dore,  Illinois. 

Artificial  Water  Routes — 

Colonel  B,  W.  Frobel,  Georgia. 

C.  S.  Carrington,  Virginia. 
Wm.  H.  Abell,  New  York. 
Lyman  Bridges,  Illinois. 
Wajudo  M.  Potter,  Iowa. 

Natural  Water  Routes — 

Barton  Able,  Missouri. 
Grcneral  Rosser,  Minnesota. 
W.  S.  Fairfield,  New  York. 
W.  M.  Btjrwell,  Louisiana. 
Wm.  Maxwell,  Tennessee. 


R.  H.  FERGUSON, 

Secreta/ry. 


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